Jayden and Hennie lead the way, Marco impressed on his return to action, Matti produced a par save to savour and Brad swapped YouTube golf for the elite stage.
Here is everything you need to know from day one in Germany.
Schaper and Du Plessis set the pace
South African duo Jayden Schaper and Hennie du Plessis hold a share of the lead after a low-scoring opening round at Golfclub München Eichenried. Among the morning wave of starters in Germany, both players carded matching bogey-free rounds of eight-under-par 64 to set the early pace. Countryman JC Ritchie was one shot further back alongside Anthony Quayle as the Australian, playing in one of the last two groups of the day, birdied his final hole.
Schaper, one of the star performers this season on the DP World Tour, knows victory this week would victory at the final event of the European Swing for Schaper would see the 25-year-old become the first three-time winner on the 2026 Race to Dubai. "I think just coming into the event, I know the course, I'm comfortable with it," said Schaper, who is fourth in the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World. "I've been here a couple of years now. I love the area, love the city, so it's always a week that I enjoy coming to."
Du Plessis is on track for his career-best campaign so far on the DP World Tour after a strong burst of results on his home continent during the International Swing. The 29-year-old made his Major Championship debut at the U.S. Open last month and admitted he has had to "get over a few nightmares" since his return from America. "Bummed that I didn't birdie the 18th, well the ninth, but it was a good, solid round," he said. "Very happy with it. I think the experience [at Shinnecock] made me a better golfer for this week."
Waring glad to see form follow fitness
Paul Waring is hoping his game is rounding into form after putting his injury troubles behind him as he aims to kickstart a productive second half of 2026 on the DP World Tour. The Englishman is this week making his 13th appearance worldwide of the year, six of which have come on a medical exemption on the PGA TOUR after his rookie campaign stateside was impacted by a shoulder injury that saw him take painkillers and undergo a cortisone injection as part of his recovery. But his focus is now back on the DP World Tour – where he is a two-time winner – and a first-round bogey-free six-under 66 at Golfclub München Eichenried was giving him plenty of reason for optimism. "I played lovely today to be honest with you. It was very simple golf. I had a lot of control over the golf ball. I took advantage of the par fives. And as I say, just kept hitting solid golf shot after solid golf shot. So yeah, made-up at the start. Actually, it's one of my first rounds, I think, without a five. As I say, there was a lot of really good golf."
Penge impresses on competitive comeback
After a month and a half spent prioritising his health, Marco Penge said he was entering the unknown on his return to competitive golf. Absent since the US PGA Championship in mid-May, he revealed on Wednesday his health struggles in recent months are due to a vestibular ocular deficiency. However, the Englishman said he was "feeling more myself" after time away and that translated onto the course as he opened with a 68 that left him "really happy with today's work". Known for his distance off the tee, it was his iron play that left last season's three-time winner particularly pleased. "It was good to see my iron play so good," he said. "Normally it's the worst part of my game and pretty bad, to be fair. Whereas today was one of the best iron play rounds I've put together! So it was nice to come back after some time off and see some progress in the weaker areas!"
Schmid's 'par of the week'
If saving a par when bogey or worse appears a near certainty is one of golf's moral victories, then Matti Schmid just produced the perfect example. The German appeared in all heaps of bother after an errant tee shot left him in the 'jungle' to the left of the fairway. From there, he mustered all his force to advance his second shot into a native area to the right of the fairway, before holing a 28-foot par putt. The World Feed commentary team of Alison Whitaker and Mark Roe were already calling it "the par of the week". Watch the video below to see it for yourself...
From YouTube golf to the DP World Tour
Days on from announcing his decision to leave Good Good, a popular YouTube channel with over 2.1 million subscribers, Brad Dalke is testing himself on the DP World Tour stage. Playing on a tournament invitation this week, the 2016 U.S. Amateur runner-up held his own as he shot a 69 that featured just one bogey. The highlight of his day was a near hole-in-one at the par three second.
