Bryce Easton had a superb start to the European Tour’s Mallorca Golf Open at Golf Santa Ponsa in the Balearic Islands, Spain on Thursday when he carded a seven-under-par 63 to take a share of second after the first round.
Easton, who has won three times on the Sunshine Tour, with his most recent victory coming in the Zimbabwe Open in Harare in 2018, had a quiet start from the 10th hole with three consecutive pars. But he then made three birdies in a row from the 13th to the 15th, and he followed that up with a birdie on the 17th to turn in four-under. He made four birdies on his closing nine too – on two, three, six and seven – before dropping his only shot of the day on the eighth.
At seven-under, he shared second with Sweden’s Niklas Lemke. They were one stroke behind Jeff Winther of Denmark, who had 10 birdies and two bogeys on his card for his eight-under 62. There were two Germans and two Spaniards in a share of fourth on six-under – Matti Schmid, Bernd Ritthammer, Jorge Campillo and Alviro Quiros.
South Africa’s Zander Lombard was one of six players in a share of eighth on five-under after he made seven birdies and two bogeys in his 65. Jacques Kruyswijk signed for a three-under 67 together with Thomas Aiken, while Louis de Jager was on one-under in a share of 57th. Wilco Nienaber was on one-over, while Haydn Porteous had a nightmare of an opening round with a 12-over 82.
