01아론 라이와 요아킴 라게르그렌, 웬트워스에서 6언더파 공동 선두 질주
시즌 세 번째 롤렉스 시리즈인 BMW PGA 챔피언십이 영국 웬트워스 클럽에서 화려한 막을 올렸습니다. 대회 첫날, 잉글랜드의 아론 라이가 홈 팬들의 열렬한 응원 속에 6언더파 66타를 기록하며 리더보드 최상단에 이름을 올렸습니다. 라이는 이날 버디 7개와 보기 1개를 묶어 정교한 아이언 샷감을 뽐내며 우승을 향한 발판을 마련했습니다. 그는 최근 이 대회에서 3시즌 연속 톱5에 들었을 만큼 웬트워스 코스에 강한 면모를 보이고 있습니다.
스웨덴의 요아킴 라게르그렌 역시 이글 1개와 버디 5개를 몰아치며 아론 라이와 함께 공동 선두로 나섰습니다. 지난해 투어 카드를 유지하지 못하는 시련을 겪기도 했던 라게르그렌은 올해 하부 투어에서의 우승을 발판 삼아 다시금 존재감을 과시하고 있습니다. 그는 경기 후 인터뷰에서 "완벽한 샷은 아니었지만 실수를 잘 관리한 것이 주효했다"며 남은 라운드에 대한 기대감을 드러냈습니다.
선두 그룹의 뒤를 쫓는 추격자들의 면면도 화려합니다. '신성' 루드비히 오베르그와 베테랑 아담 스콧, 그리고 나초 엘비라 등이 1타 차 공동 3위 그룹을 형성하며 역전의 기회를 엿보고 있습니다. 특히 오베르그는 라운드 후반 더블 보기를 범했음에도 불구하고 마지막 3개 홀에서 연속 버디를 잡아내는 무서운 뒷심을 발휘하며 갤러리들의 탄성을 자아냈습니다.
한편, 강력한 우승 후보인 로리 매킬로이는 3언더파를 기록하며 선두와 3타 차 공동 10위권 내에 자리 잡으며 무난하게 첫날 경기를 마쳤습니다. 빅토르 호블란, 로버트 매킨타이어 등 라이더컵 스타들도 대거 상위권에 포진해 있어, 남은 라운드에서 전 세계 골프 팬들의 이목이 집중되는 치열한 우승 경쟁이 펼쳐질 전망입니다.
02Original (English) — DP World Tour
Aaron Rai was alongside Joakim Lagergren at the top of a high-class leaderboard after day one of the BMW PGA Championship.
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
End of dialog window.
This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.
This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.
The third Rolex Series event of the season brought bumper crowds and an elite field to Wentworth Club and it was US PGA Championship winner Rai who delighted the home crowds with a 66.
The Englishman carded seven birdies and a single bogey to get to six under where he was joined by Swede Lagergren, who recorded an eagle, five birdies and a single dropped shot.
Swede Ludvig Åberg, former Masters champion Adam Scott, in-form American Ryan Gerard and Spaniard Nacho Elvira were a shot off the lead, one clear of a group of 12 players including Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World leader Patrick Reed, Open Champion Ryan Fox and Åberg's fellow Ryder Cup stars Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre.
Masters champion Rory McIlroy was then in a large group at three under on a congested leaderboard.
Rai was part of a marquee three-ball containing McIlroy and Fox as he looks for a third Rolex Series title at an event where he has finished in the top five for the last three seasons.
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
End of dialog window.
This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.
This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.
"Really pleased overall," he said. "Conditions were pretty tricky. We had a lot of rain during that warm up. But by the time it started, the wind had stopped, so that helped to start really well.
"I felt like I got into the round fast and got a couple of birdies early on and continued to just play well throughout the round and keep the momentum going when I was out of position.
"So, yeah, really good. Really good start."
Starting on the ninth, the 31-year-old holed from 15 feet on the tenth and then got dialled in with his irons, putting shots inside ten feet on the 11th, 13th and 14th.
He dropped his only shot of the day as he failed to get up and down on the 16th but he bounced back on the par-five next, hit a smart tee-shot into the second and then a stunner into the seventh before saving par after going in the water at the eighth.
A winner at the 2018 Rocco Forte Sicilian Open, Lagergren lost his card in 2023 but won twice on the HotelPlanner Tour the following year to bounce straight back.
He carried that momentum into last season as he recorded two runner-up finishes and a best Race to Dubai position of 24th but he feels he has work to do on his game despite matching his lowest round over the West Course.
"Scored really well today so I'm happy with that," he said. "I feel like I wasn't at my best today, if that's OK to say after a minus six, but I feel like I have still work to do.
"You always want to improve, and as often in this sport, it's hard to have five hours of good shots out there. You always want to get those bad shots to be a bit better.
"I feel like the bad shots were pretty decent today, which I like. But obviously, it wasn't a hundred per cent. But it never is really."
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
End of dialog window.
This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.
This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.
The 34-year-old sandwiched a gain on the par-five fourth with lengthy putts on the second and fifth but dropped a shot on the ninth as he turned in 34.
He then eagled the par-five 12th from 22 feet, put a tee shot to ten feet on the 14th and made a two-putt birdie on the last to join the lead.
Big finishes were the order of the day for Åberg and Elvira, with the Ryder Cup star birdieing his last three holes after making a double on the 15th, while Elvira birdied four of his last five.
Australian Scott made five gains in his first 11 holes before a bogey-birdie finish and Gerard recorded six birdies and a single bogey.
American pair Davis Bryant and Johannes Veerman, German duo Freddy Schott and Nicolai von Dellingshausen, Belgian Thomas Detry, Dane Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Frenchman Antoine Rozner and Italy's Filippo Celli completed the top ten in the group at four under.
Report
Shane Lowry stormed to his second Amgen Irish Open success after making history with a record 11-shot triumph at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel, Ireland, Doonbeg.