Denmark’s Joachim B Hansen shot a spectacular six-under 66 to take the early lead on a day of low scoring in the opening round of the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final at the Almouj Golf in Muscat.
Current Road to Oman Rankings leader Ricardo Gouveia opened with an impressive bogey-free 67 to lurk just one stroke behind.
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“It was perfect, just the opening round I wanted to put me in a good position for the next three days,” said Hansen, who is currently 17th in the Road to Oman Rankings and in with a great chance of finishing in the all-important top 15 to secure promotion to The European Tour.
“I’ve found something good in my swing – it’s working really well ball striking-wise and the putter keeps rolling.”
Gouveia, meanwhile, got off to the perfect start in his bid to be crowned European Challenge Tour Number One.
The Portuguese showed the kind of consistency which has seen him sit atop the Rankings for much of the season with a blemish-free round.
“I hit the ball really well today and holed a few good putts that kept the momentum of the round going,” said Gouveia who is 115th in the Official World Golf Ranking making him the highest ranked Portuguese player of all time.
The 23-year-old is just 3,980 points ahead of good friend Sebastien Gros in the Rankings and the Frenchman also got off to a solid start shooting three-under 69 to lie in a share of sixth place.
