Shaun Norris produced a spectacular eagle on his final hole to leapfrog into the lead on an emotional first day of the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship.
Related: Pablo Larrazabal eyes home win in Spain
The day marked the 15th anniversary of the death of the great Seve Ballesteros and across Real Club de Golf El Prat, tributes were paid to the trailblazing Spaniard, who passed away on May 7, 2011.
View this post on Instagram
With many of the players decked out in his signature navy blue and white, his picture on the first tee and some of the flags dedicated to him, it was true celebration of the man whose record of 50 DP World Tour wins is 29 clear of the nearest active member in Rory McIlroy.
And he would surely have enjoyed the action inside the ropes as South African Norris took out his three wood on the ninth fairway and with his penultimate shot of the day put an approach from 244 yards to four feet.
The resulting eagle saw him sign for a 64 and sit atop the leaderboard at eight under, one shot clear of Scottish duo Ewen Ferguson and David Law and Frenchman Alexander Levy.
Norris enjoyed a blistering start to the season, with finishes of fifth and second on home soil before he started the calendar year with a top 20 at the Dubai Invitational. He could not maintain that momentum through the International Swing but has been a back on the up in recent weeks, following a top five at the Volvo China Open with a top ten on the Japan Golf Tour – where he is an eight-time winner – last week.
View this post on Instagram
In search of a third win on the DP World Tour, he birdied the tenth, 12th, 15th and 18th before adding further gains on the fourth and fifth. His only dropped shot came as he found sand off the tee on the next but he then birdied the seventh before his big finish sent him to the top of the leaderboard.
Levy, a five-time DP World Tour winner who is trying to regain his card this season, went out in the first group of the day off the tenth and it was a slow start as he picked up a single birdie on the back nine. But he then found his groove, making four on the front to go with a hole-out eagle from 92 yards on the fifth in a bogey-free effort.
Ferguson made three birdies and a bogey before eagling the ninth and then holed monster putts for further gains on the tenth, 15th and last.
View this post on Instagram
Law – who is back on Tour after two wins on the HotelPlanner Tour last season – took advantage of the four par fives while also picking up shots on the 11th, 17th and fifth.
Dane Lucas Bjerregaard had been at seven under but bogeyed the last in a 66 that also contained five birdies and an eagle on the tenth.
That left him at six under alongside South African Michael Hollick, who carded seven birdies and a bogey, and Italian Stefano Mazzoli, who signed for an eagle, five birdies and a bogey.
Player quotes
Shaun Norris: “It was solid. I hit the ball nicely all day, gave myself chances, so very happy with where the game is at.
“I have been battling to try and find a three-wood for the last year or two, and I think we figured it out this week and trusted one, got a good number out of it and it just worked it perfectly.
“I played nicely last week in Japan, had to pop over there to get everything sorted with visas and residency, but the game is solid. I can’t complain this week, very happy where everything is.”
Alex Levy: “It was nice, I had a tough week last week, and I was a little bit upset – so I am really please with what I did today, and a really good round. Nothing to say, just some really good shots and I holed a couple putts.
“I think I was like a kid that didn’t have his candies last week. I was really upset after that because it looks like I didn’t have the experience and I was frustrated on the golf course, so today I managed myself to be really calm. For sure I hit some good shots, and that has helped.”
