South Africa’s Chris Williams carded a superb nine under par 63 to race into a three shot lead at the half way stage of the first round of the Senior Open de Portugal at Vidago Palace.
The 55 year-old had a hot putter to thank as he carded nine birdies and an eagle to finish his round three shots ahead of 25 time European Senior Tour winner Carl Mason from England.
Williams holed out from 18-feet for a birdie on the first and that set the tone for the day. He went on to hole six further putts from outside 10 feet with the highlight of the day coming at the 533 yard par five fourth hole where he hit two woods onto the front edge of the green and then holed from 40 feet for an eagle three.
The South African’s nearest challenger is Mason who holed a wedge from 123 yards for an eagle two on the par four 13th on his way to posting a six under par 66.
On a day of low scoring Thailand’s Boonchu Ruangkit carded a five under par 67 while England’s Gary Wolstenholme was also five under par through his first 15 holes. New Zealand’s Greg Turner and Cesar Monasterio from Argentina both carded four under par rounds of 68 to climb to within five shots of the leader.
