Spaniard Jorge Campillo shared the lead after the first round of the Volvo China Open after shooting a seven-under par 65. Picture by GETTY IMAGES
SPAIN’S Jorge Campillo picked up exactly where he left off in Morocco last week as the European Tour’s most recent champion carded an opening 65 to share the first round lead in the 25th edition of the Volvo China Open.
The Spaniard was clearly still riding the wave of his maiden victory at the Trophée Hassan II on Sunday as he opened with a birdie and finished the front nine with an eagle three – with three more birdies in between – before a quieter back nine yielded just one gained shot at the par five 17th.
Campillo said: “I got a few nights sleep so it was good and I played alright. Hitting fairways and greens and I made a few putts as well so it was good round. The eagle on nine was the highlight, I made great putts on seven and eight back to back and then I hit a great hybrid on nine. I got an easy putt uphill and I made it.
If I can keep playing like this and making the putts it will be a good sign, I’ll play to my best tomorrow and hopefully have a chance on the weekend. It was really dark, hard to see the breaks at 14, 15 and 16. It got a little lighter on 17 but then it started raining, playing 17 and 18 in the rain is not easy.
“The 18th tee shot is one of the hardest on the golf course and it was raining really hard. I was worried about that tee shot but it went down the middle. It was a little challenging the last few holes.”
He joined American David Lipsky, a winner already this season at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, and Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen at the top of the leaderboard on seven-under par.
Lipsky, who was in contention on the back nine at the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam Club, said: “I played well and I got my putter working today. I hit it alright, not great, but I think I holed 150 feet of putts today so that always helps.
“I was trying to be aggressive and it didn’t work out for me. I was just trying to get it to 15-20 feet from the hole and luckily I kept making them.
“Everything’s in good shape out here. The greens are pure, it’s pick and place you have a perfect lie every time so it’s definitely good playing conditions.
“The ball isn’t going quite as far this week, the air’s a little bit heavy but you adjust. I just need to try execute the shots tomorrow and hole a few more putts.”
Home hero and the 2015 Volvo China Open champion Wu Ashun was a shot further back alongside his compatriot Jin Daxing and American John Catlin after three 66s, while another Chinese star, World No. 39 Haotong Li, was one of eight players in a share of sixth place on five-under.
Finn Pulkkanen said: “It was a great round, I started slowly with only two birdies in the front nine but five birdies on the back nine so it was great. It’s a quick recovery from Morocco – I had a good flight and I feel good physically so it’s nice to be up there now.
“I think I played my best score today. I had some struggles today but had a couple of good up and downs, a couple of good bunker shots so I’m happy.
“I was the best player in the field on the par fives last week in Morocco so I continued that into this week, which is important on this course, and I feel like I can use my length to this long course so that’s good.
“I’m going to use the same game plan and I only played seven holes in the practice round so I wasn’t sure about the back nine, but now I know it better, so same again tomorrow.”
China’s Wu Ashun, who won the Volvo China Open in 2015, said: “It was a very good round today, I hit a lot of quality shots and made a lot of birdies, so it was a good start to the tournament.
“I think you have to hit the fairways out there and just keep it on the green and then you’ll have chances to make birdies.
“It was challenging for everyone when the rain came down there for a while, it’s not easy on this golf course in those conditions. It’s wet and you lose distance with the driver so it’s tough for everyone.”
American Catlin, who has had five starts on the PGA Tour in the States this season after earning a limited European Tour card via the Asian Tour, said: “I definitely hit a lot of good shots out there. I love this golf course and the greens are in terrific shape.
“I felt like I hit a lot of the greens which definitely helped, having a lot of putts on those greens takes a little bit of the pressure off and I was able to hole a couple of the long ones too.
“I made a great one on nine, probably a 45-footer so that was a nice bonus too. I’m very happy with an opening round 66.
“There are some holes you can be aggressive on, for sure, and then there are some holes you have to play smart – 18 for example, for me the wind wasn’t really ideal so I took a three-wood knowing I was going to have a longer club going in but I knew I could get the ball on the fairway.
“A couple of holes were like that where I felt I would have a longer club going in but in the fairway. Some holes, you’re definitely hitting driver to get it down there a little further, some holes you’re playing back a little bit but I had a good gameplan and luckily I was able to execute it.
“The par fives are definitely where you can make up some birdies – I wish I could have gotten one on 17 there, it was a tough shot. There is thick sand this week and I just got under it, but I was able to make a nice putt for par to save it. We have a long way to go – 54 more holes – so you’ve just got to keep going.”
