Tano Goya kept the Argentine flag flying high on The European Tour with a seven under par opening round of 65 at the Moravia Silesia Open presented by ALO Diamonds in the Czech Republic.
Four winners have come from the South American country already this season, the biggest being Angel Cabrera at the Masters Tournament and the most recent being Ricardo Gonzalez at the SAS Masters in Sweden on Sunday.
Goya, whose first victory on the circuit came at the Madeira Islands Open BPI - Portugal in March, covered the back nine first in just 30 strokes.
And it was Goya’s accurate approach play which was the key to his round, as he landed on 17 greens in regulation.
“I'm very happy. I played really good,” he said. “When you play well and have a good round you are relieved in the first round. It is important to start on the right foot.
“I was always on the green for a birdie chance. I also putted well, that helped me do that round. If you aren't on the greens here with the slopes it is difficult to make and up and down. The key was hitting the greens.”
After birdies at the tenth and 14th he eagled the 553 yard 16th at the Prosper Resort in Celadna and followed that with two more birdies.
“I hit a good drive to the left and had all the green from left to right and the wind was blowing from right to left so I could hit a fade with a three wood,” said Goya of his eagle. “I tried to bounce it on the green and it stopped on the green. I had a putt from five metres downhill which I holed.”
The 21 year old, like Cabrera from Cordoba, bogeyed the second, but then picked up more strokes on the fourth and eighth to take a two stroke lead over François Delamontagne and Robert-Jan Derksen.
The Celtic Manor Wales Open winner Jeppe Huldahl, France’s Michael Lorenzo-Vera and Scot Callum MacAulay are a shot further back on four under.
Welshman Jamie Donaldson, runner-up to Gonzalez last weekend, had a one under 71, while course designer Miguel Angel Jiménez signed for the same score.
The Spaniard made only one birdie all day at the fourth - his 13th - and made two good par saves on the tenth and the second, chipping in from the rough for the latter.
“I missed a few shots in the last few holes,” said The Ryder Cup star. “I missed a birdie at the sixth and seventh, eighth and ninth so the last four holes. Anything under par is good. If I could have birdied a few more it would have been better.”
Out on the course the English trio of John Bickerton, Lee Slattery and Steve Webster had all reached three under par.
