English trio lead the way on day one of the Soudal Open on DP World Tour

Sam Horsfield, Dale Whitnell and Callum Shinkwin hit the front on day one of the Soudal Open on DP World Tour.

English trio lead the way on day one of the Soudal Open on DP World Tour
English trio lead the way on day one of the Soudal Open on DP World Tour

English trio Dale Whitnell, Sam Horsfield and Callum Shinkwin lead the way after the first round of the Soudal Open.



They each fired opening 65s at Rinkven International Golf Club on Thursday morning, and with no-one able to catch them in the afternoon, they head into the second round one clear of the chasing pack.



It had looked as though Whitnell might prove impossible to catch on day one, after he notched nine birdies in his opening 16 holes, before a double bogey-bogey finish meant he had to settle for a 65.



Yannik Paul, Jeff Winther, Alexander Björk, Adrian Meronk and Spaniards Alvaro Quiros and Nacho Elvira finished day one in a tie for fourth on five under par.



A pair of amateurs were under par after the first day, with Charles Roeland firing a 69 and 14-year-old debutant Lev Grinberg shooting a 70 on his home course, while home favourite Thomas Pieters also opened with a 69.

"I played really nicely," said co-leader Horsfield, who is going in search of his third DP World Tour victory at this week's Soudal Open.

"I kept the ball in play, this is a golf course where positioning is quite important off the tee and I was able to position it nicely to give myself a lot of good looks, and rolled in a few.

"I really struggled around the greens last week. I hadn’t chipped out of rough for three months or so since Dubai, so I struggled around the greens last week and spent a little extra time this week around them and hopefully that is all good.

"Zero (on setting goals). Literally zero. Just trying to stay healthy and play some good golf in between and see what happens."

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