Two days after wondering if he was too tired to give The European Open his best shot, Ross Fisher beat The London Golf Club course record and claimed top spot on the leaderboard in the process.
The 27 year old Englishman, who three days ago finished joint third in The Open Championship qualifier at Sunningdale, closed with six successive birdies to record a spectacular nine under par 63 and lower the course record set by Seve Ballesteros in 1984.
The score, which was the lowest of his career, opened a two-stroke lead over Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell and South African David Frost and afterwards he said: "It's probably the best, most solid round of golf I've played and on the front nine (he began on the tenth) the hole was as big as a bucket."
Having emerged from the 36-hole Open qualifier at Sunningdale on Monday, Fisher took his wife Joanne to Wimbledon for her birthday on Tuesday and left his caddie to walk the course. "He pretty much gave me spot-on clubs all day," Fisher added.
Fisher kicked off with two birdies and did not have to wait long for two more. After bogeying the short 17th, he covered the outward half in 30.
That included holing a bunker shot on the 187yard seventh and hitting a massive drive on the dogleg 448yard ninth that, to his disbelief, came up a mere 20 yards short of the green.
Power is one thing, but scoring is what the game is all about and for that Fisher, like Lee Westwood, is singing the praises of Mark Roe.
"In my mind, he and Brett Rumford are two of the greatest short-game people I've been privileged to witness," he said.
McDowell is in good spirits going into the second day after shooting six birdies and one eagle at a cost of one bogey. Afterwards he said: "I'm feeling mentally and physically fit and I'm not spending much time on the range. You pinpoint what you need to work on, get rest and stay off the Guinness on the weeks off.”
McDowell was joined in second by Frost, who shot nine birdies, but dropped shots on the 11th and 13th holes.
Frost’s playing partner, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, also scored well in front of the 23,856 spectators who flocked to The London Golf Club for Free Ticket Thursday, opening his account with a five under par 67 to lie in fourth place.
Another Irishman Paul McGinley was six under with two to play, but followed a bogey on the short 17th with a drive into water for a closing double bogey six and a 69. It left him tied for 12th on the leaderboard. Playing partner Justin Rose shot the same, while Darren Clarke returned a 71 like Sergio Garcia.
Defending champion Colin Montgomerie was three under par after eight but bogeys at the seventh and 18th brought him back to two under, while Open Champion Padraig Harrington, recovering from a stiff neck, returned a level par 72. The Irishman said: "I'm happy with my short-game and I was as solid as I've been all year on the greens, but I struggled to get distance control," he said.
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