China’s Ashun Wu matched his lowest round on the DP World Tour in almost four years on Thursday, carding a seven under par 63 to take a one-stroke lead at the Omega European Masters.
Related: Thriston Lawrence well poised for Crans-sur-Sierre title defence
The 41-year-old went bogey-free on the opening day at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club, mixing four birdies on his front nine with another three on the back to post his best score since the first round of the Open de España presented by Madrid in 2022.
Wu, making his sixth appearance in the picturesque Alps, picked up his first shot at the par four second, before a trio of gains ahead of the turn saw him go out in 31.
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The five-time DP World Tour winner continued the momentum down the stretch, a birdie at the par three 13th sparking a further two to round out the flawless performance.
Thriston Lawrence and Ángel Ayora were the next best of the afternoon groups, both finishing the day at six under par.
South African Lawrence, who prevailed by two strokes last year to become a two-time champion in Crans-Montana, made a strong start to his title defence, registering six birdies across his opening nine holes.
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The five-time winner on golf’s Global Tour then had to settle for even par on his run home, the tale of two halves enough to see him post a 64 and stay within one.
Ayora, having made some swing adjustments of late, got his round off to a promising start with gains at the seventh and ninth, but it was the back nine where he made his moves; the Spaniard birded the 13th to start a run of four in five holes and finish strongly.
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The pair sit in a share of second alongside the best of the morning performers in England’s Todd Clements, Germany’s Nicolai Von Dellingshausen and India’s Shubhankar Sharma.
English duo Harry Hall and Jack Yule were in a group a further shot back, joined by Sweden’s Niklas Lemke, Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra and Germany’s Jeremy Paul.
Player quotes:
Ashun Wu: I was very happy to come back to here, to play the tournament, and what a lovely place. I enjoy being here, and everything looks like it’s going pretty well.
It was the front nine with three birdies in a row, so four under, and then the back nine we were three under, so it was pretty clear. So, my mind was good, my mind was good, and I holed a couple of putts, and hit a couple of good shots.
I had seven weeks off, I didn’t play the first two events of the summertime, and I was working with my swing, with my coach in the US. We were working pretty hard, but when I come back to England to play last week at the Belfry, it seems it doesn’t work good. Maybe it was in the rain. But this week, I feel a lot better with my swing, and yeah, I am just looking forward to play another couple of rounds.
