Sam Bairstow produces hot finish to share Open de España lead

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Sam Bairstow - TheGolfingHub
Sam Bairstow made the turn at three under, courtesy of an eagle at the fourth and a birdie at the par three ninth. He sandwiched a second birdie of the day at the 11th with a bogey either side, before coming alive at the 14th. Photo: Getty Images

Sam Bairstow birdied four of his last five holes to join Ugo Coussaud in a share of the Open de España presented by Madrid first round lead.

The Englishman posted a six under par 65 to join Frenchman Coussaud at the top of the leaderboard, one clear of England’s Marco Penge, France’s Frederic Lacroix and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger on five under at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.

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Coussaud set the target by mixing two bogeys with a pair of eagles and four birdies and it looked like he would be the man to catch at the end of the day, but Bairstow – playing in the final group – produced a hot finish to join him at the summit.

The 27-year-old made the turn at three under, courtesy of an eagle at the fourth and a birdie at the par three ninth. He sandwiched a second birdie of the day at the 11th with a bogey either side, before coming alive at the 14th.

He kicked off the hot streak with a simple two-putt birdie at the par five 14th, before converting from 17 feet at the 15th. He parred the next but moved within one thanks to a stiff tee shot at the par three 17th to five feet, before adding a final birdie at the short par four 18th from 12 feet.

Race to Dubai Number Three Penge was the pick of the early starters as he eyes a third title of 2025 after claiming the Hainan Classic and Danish Golf Championship earlier this year, and he was joined on five under by Lacroix, also a winner in Denmark, and 2021 Ryder Cup player Wiesberger.

The leading Spanish hopeful is Angel Ayora, who shares sixth place with Scotsman Grant Forrest, Frenchman Alex Levy, England’s Dan Bradbury and Canadian Aaron Cockerill.

Player quotes

Sam Bairstow: I think coming in, the focus was on getting finished because of the dark so to finish with a few birdies there was great.

I love it here, I played here for the first time last year and I loved it so it’s just a good week – obviously the city’s good, course is good, the fans are good so yeah, I like coming back here.

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