Sam Jones carded an impressive seven under par 62 to take a one-shot lead after a weather-affected opening day of the Interwetten Open.
The 29-year-old made the perfect start to his opening round with an eagle at the first hole before adding two birdies and a bogey to make the turn three under par, however play was then suspended due to thunder and lightning at Schladming-Dachstein Golf Club.
Round one got back under way after a five hour and 24-minute delay and Jones took advantage of the soft greens to card four more birdies coming in and reach seven under, one ahead of Sweden’s David Lundgren and Englishman Bradley Bawden.
“It was really good today,” he said. “I hit a lot of quality shots, and my putter has been feeling good recently. I managed to roll in a few nice ones to finish and it’s nice to put down a good score early on in the tournament.
“I just tried to go out there and play golf again after the delay. I hit a few balls on the range and the body was feeling good.
“This golf course really suits me because there’s a bit more room and I can get out there and hit my driver hard and give myself some good birdie opportunities.”
The New Zealander currently sits 24th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings after a strong start to the season and he is now targeting a place in the top 20 to secure a DP World Tour card.
“I had a strong start to the season and those finishes have put me in a good position,” he said.
“My game has been inconsistent of late, but I know I just need a few good weeks, and I can break into that top 20. Hopefully I can get a win at some point this season because that is another one of my goals.”
Home favourite Maximilian Steinlechner, Spaniard Javier Sainz, Swiss Cedric Gugler, Italian Filippo Celli, Denmark’s Sebastian Friedrichsen and Frenchman Nathan Legendre share fourth position on five under par.
Round one was suspended due to darkness at 8:50pm local time and is set to resume at 8am local time tomorrow.
