John Murphy suffered a poor start to the Made in Himmerland championship in Denmark as the talented golfer continued a poor run of form that has seen him miss two cuts two weeks in a row – and it looks like he might be heading that way again this week.
Murphy, the only Irish player in the field, shot a disappointing eight over 78, with only three players shooting worse than him.
Meanwhile, up at the other end of the leaderboard, Robert MacIntyre sparked into life on the back nine to open a two-stroke lead after the opening round at Made in HimmerLand.
The Scotsman was able to watch the early morning rain from the comfort of his hotel room before beginning his first round under the Danish sun at HimmerLand, taking advantage of the slightly calmer conditions to post an opening six under par round of 64.
The two-time DP World Tour winner mixed three birdies with a single bogey on the front nine, before giving another shot back at the par three tenth.
That blemish, however, kickstarted MacIntyre’s back-nine birdie blitz with back-to-back gains at the following two holes, before successive birdies followed at the 14th and 15th.
MacIntyre put breathing room between himself and England’s Ross Fisher, who occupies second place on four under, with a final birdie at the par three 17th and emphatically tame the windy HimmerLand layout.
Five-time DP World Tour winner Fisher was forced to contend with both the wind and rain courtesy of his early morning tee time, but looked to make light work of the conditions with just a solitary bogey in his round of 66.
The Englishman is one stroke clear of Germany’s Nick Bachem, Daan Huizing of the Netherlands, and USA’s Johannes Veerman, who posted the only bogey-free round of the day, with the trio sharing third place on three under par.
Speaking to reporters after his day one, Robert MacIntyre said: “It was really tough today. “When I was sat in my room this morning, I was quite glad that I wasn’t out there. It got a little bit nicer. Obviously, the breeze was really strong, but at least we didn’t have any rain. “But it was just a mental battle out there and just had to stay positive. The dropped shots were going to happen and just had to take the chances when they came and thankfully, I did that.
“But of luck, here and there. I’ve been working hard on my game the last three weeks. I’ve chopped and changed. There’s been a lot of changes and I’ve kind of gone back to what I know I’m good at.
“This week, I mean, I didn’t turn up until Tuesday night and enjoyed myself for a few days at the tennis and I just pitched up here refreshed and with a good attitude.
“Same as last week. Just deal with what comes and just work hard at it. I’m in a good mindset just now, Greg’s doing a good job on the bag and everything’s going smoothly.”
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