Brendan Lawlor defied a stubbornly disobedient putter to stay on track and claim the 36-holes lead in the inaugural G4D Open – supported by the R&A – at Woburn, where the 26-year-old Dundalk man signed for a second round 74 for an impressive total of level-par 144.
“I hit it so good. I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens. I had a few silly three-putts and missed a lot of putts from inside five fee so, probably looking back on my round, I could have been five shots better,” said Lawlor, who claimed a one-shot lead over world number one ranked Kipp Popert of England.
Lawlor, who is professional and has played in a number of DP World Tour events, has a rare condition called Ellis-van Creveld syndrome, characterised by a shorter stature and shorter limbs, added: “All you can do is play yourself into contention [for the final round in the 54-holes event] and hopefully the putts will drop then.”
“Kipp’s one behind, so, you never know, it could turn into a match play situation pretty easily,” added Lawlor, who is ranked number two in the Golf with Disability world rankings.
In the Belgian Open on the DP World Tour, Sweden’s Simon Forsstrom opened with a superb bogey-free seven-under-par 64 to claim the first-round lead in Antwerp, a shot clear of a quartet of players.
“Everything went very well. I hit the driver straight, put some shots very close and holed a couple of putts as well. I’ve been playing pretty steady, making a lot of cuts and a couple of top-10s. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and seeing what I can do, I feel like the game is pretty good now,” said Forsstrom, a graduate of the Challenge Tour.
John Murphy, looking to make a cut for the first time this season, showed considerable improvement in form to sign for a 69 (in tied-31st) while Gary Hurley opened with a 73 (in tied-117th).
In the Cognizant Founders Cup on the LPGA Tour, Stephanie Meadow opened with a first round 74, two over par, to trail early clubhouse leaders Cheyenne Knight, Atthaya Thitikul and Maddie Szeryk by six shots in the event in Clifton, New Jersey.
Meanwhile, Seung-yul Noh shot a sensational 60 in the opening round of the Byron Nelson Classic in McKinney, Texas.
The 31-year-old South Korean’s only win came a decade ago in the Zurich Classic but he produced a scorecard that featured an eagle and nine birdies without dropping a shot to claim the clubhouse lead, three clear of Australian Adam Scott.
Noh’s round was achieved despite cracking the head on his driver when teeing off the 12th but he remained unperturbed and was allowed a replacement driver after completing the 13th.
“Everything was going amazing. Like not perfect, it’s going just an amazing day. Off the tee, I missed two drives because the crack of the driver head. Except two shots off the tee through the green, everything was going perfectly. I’m really happy for my career low on the PGA Tour.”
