Golf-Argentine Goya leads as Tour returns to Czech Republic (Reuters)
July 30, 2009
CELADNA, Czech Republic, July 30 (Reuters) – Argentine TanoGoya shot a seven-under par 65 to lead by one stroke after thefirst round of the Moravia Silesia Open on Thursday.
The 21-year-old was ahead of Britons John Bickerton andSteve Webster at the Prosper Golf Resort as the European Tourreturned to the Czech Republic for the first time in 12 years.
Goya, who claimed his first European Tour win at the MadeiraIslands Open in March, got off to a fine start as he started onthe back nine holes and breezed through them in 30 strokes.
“I was always on the green for a birdie chance,” he told theTour’s official web site (www.europeantour.com) after a roundthat included six birdies and one eagle.
“If you aren’t on the greens here with the slopes it isdifficult… The key was hitting the greens.”
Miguel Angel Jimenez, among the favourites at the event inthe Czech north-east, was off the pace on one-under par.
The Spaniard helped design the layout and is aiming tobecome only the second golfer to win a Euro Tour event on acourse he designed.
However, his first-hand knowledge of the course failed toprovide an advantage on the first day.
“I missed a few shots in the last few holes,” Jimenez said.“Anything under par is good. If I could have birdied a few moreit would have been better.”
The Ryder Cup player finished joint 13th at the British OpenChampionship in Turnberry earlier this month.
European Tour rookie Chris Wood, who was third at The Open,also slipped off the pace in Celadna at one-under-par.
(Reporting by Petr Josek, writing by Jason Hovet, editing byKen Ferris)
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