Swedish amateur Marcus Kinhult takes Nordea Masters lead

Phil Casey 08:44 06/06/2015
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  • Local favourite: Marcus Kinhult.

    Teenage amateur sensation Marcus Kinhult proved his opening round was no fluke as he produced another eye-catching performance to jointly lead the Nordea Masters in his native Sweden with compatriot Jens Dantorp.

    Kinhult carded a five-under-par 67 at PGA Sweden National to share the overnight lead and leave the likes of world No 4 Henrik Stenson trailing in his wake.

    The 18-year-old, who won the prestigious Lytham Trophy by eight shots last month, carried on where he left off yesterday, carding five birdies and a solitary bogey in a 68 to finish on nine-under par.

    That tally was matched later in the day by Dantorp, who hails from Malmo and is attached to the host venue, PGA Sweden National. Dantorp also carded a 68.

    Germany’s Max Kieffer and another Swede, Sebastian Soderberg, were tied for the third place two shots behind. The last amateur to lead after two rounds on the European Tour was Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who went on to win the 2009 Irish Open in a playoff with England’s Robert Rock.

    Starting on the back nine, Kinhult – who played in the junior Ryder Cup last year – birdied the 12th and 17th to reach the turn in 34 and then picked up another shot on the par-five first, which was the easiest hole on the course yesterday.

    Kinhult, who is currently third in the world amateur rankings, dropped his first shot since the sixth hole on Thursday afternoon when he three-putted the same hole from long range, but responded immediately with a birdie from 10 feet on the next.

    The ninth hole was playing the hardest on the course at 476 yards back into the wind and Kinhult looked in danger of falling foul of the daunting par-four when he found a fairway bunker off the tee. However, he produced a superb approach from 190 yards to 15 feet and calmly rolled in the birdie putt to the delight of the large crowds.

    Kinhult said: “That was a lot of fun. I had a great time out there. It felt great coming in those last few holes with bigger crowds and I managed to make two big putts too, so that was an amazing feeling.

    “I saw my name on the leaderboard, it was hard to avoid, but I tried to just stick to the game plan and focus on what I could affect and I managed to do that pretty well so I’m happy with that.

    “I’m here to gain some experience and that’s what it’s all about. It’s going to be a lot of fun this weekend and good experience to go out there tomorrow and try again.”

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