Germany’s Yannik Paul and Denmark’s Niklas Nørgaard both fired opening rounds of 65 (-7) to lead at the end of the first day of the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed.
The tournament is a co-sanctioned event between the LET and DP World Tour and it sees 78 men and 78 women playing for the same prize fund of US $2 million and one trophy.
It was a solid day for Paul, who began his round on the 10th tee and made two birdies and one bogey in his first nine holes at Ullna Golf Club.
However, it was on his back nine where he found a rich vein of form rolling in three consecutive birdies on one through three, he then added two more on six and seven before finishing with another birdie on nine to seal a round of seven-under-par.
“I’m really pleased,” said Paul. “My putter got to work on the back nine. I hit it close a few times but made a lot of nice putts which always helps. I’m really pleased with my round.
“I feel like it got colder as the day got started. It was really warm on like the third and fourth hole, not too windy. But then all of a sudden it got windier and the clouds came in. So, I think it played a bit trickier on the back nine.
“Overall, the course is in great shape and I’m actually really enjoying playing with the girls as well. We don’t get to do it that often, so it’s cool to have a little change.”
The German teed it up with the latest winner on the LET – Lisa Pettersson – who was victorious at last week’s Helsingborg Open and he was impressed with her game.
He added: “I played with Lisa [Pettersson] today who’s from Sweden and I think she has really good game. On some of the holes we definitely have some advantages, but I really enjoyed it. We had some good conversations and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
It was a slightly different story for Nørgaard who came into the tournament having not practised due to injuring his back water-skiing on Monday.
Despite that, the Dane rolled in four birdies on his front nine before dropping a shot on the second hole.
However, he soon made up for it with an eagle on the third and closed his round with back-to-back birdies on eight and nine to also finish on seven-under.
“It was a very weird day because I had no preparation at all,” said Nørgaard. “I hurt my back on Monday, so I come up here and I haven’t practised. I haven’t played the course, I just went out there with pretty much no expectations at all and it worked today.
“I was home for one day and went out water-skiing and hurt the back, I was going to fly out here Tuesday and I went to pick up my Trackman to go and fly and I couldn’t even lift it. That’s how bad it was.
“My girlfriend packed my suitcase and sent me away. I got up here and couldn’t do anything. Magically something happened and I feel totally fine now. I just haven’t done any prep at all.”
Four players sit in a share of third place with France’s Frederic Lacroix, England’s Dale Whitnell, South Africa’s Louis De Jager and Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab all on six-under-par.
LET rookie Cheenglab also began her day on the 10th tee and rolled in birdies on holes 12, 13, 15 and 18.
The Thai player dropped her only shot of the day on the second hole but bounced back immediately with a birdie on three and finished with a flourish with back-to-back birdies on eight and nine for a round of 66.
“I have been struggling for three tournaments since the Jabra Ladies Open,” said Cheenglab. “I have not been able to shoot any rounds under par so today everything is perfect.
“My irons were solid, it was easy to putt, easy to make birdies. My putter feels with me this tournament. What I saw was the right line that the ball rolled. I didn’t use driver a lot but I was able to make many birdies today.
“From the morning, I saw a lot of people making double bogeys so I changed my plans a little and decided to play safe, but then I still ended up with a lot of birdies!”
Cheenglab is enjoying the format and is used to teeing it up in mixed tournaments, as she has played in mixed events in her homeland.
She added: “I like to play with the guys. They’re very strong and very solid. Sometimes when they went into the trees, they still made par or even birdies, and I don’t know how they do that.
“I have been practising this format a lot in Thailand because we have a lot of mixed events. I have played in Thailand for two years with the guys, and they have been my model for helping to get to the pin.”
Three players ended the day in a tie for seventh place with Germany’s Nicolai Van Dellingshausen, South Africa’s Justin Walters and Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen on five-under-par.
Seven players are on shot further back in T10 including LET players Elin Arvidsson of Sweden, Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz and Germany’s Olivia Cowan.
The second round begins at 7.30 am local time and there will be a cut to the top-65 professionals and ties at the end of the day.
Follow all the action on @LETGolf on Instagram and Twitter and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube – #RaiseOurGame #ScandinavianMixed.
