Andy DevaneyMarcus Kinhult owns the early advantage at the Nexo Championship after opening with a five-under-par 67 at Trump International Golf Links, a score that looked rather tidier on the card than it apparently felt in his hands.
In blustery Aberdeenshire, the Swede finished two clear of a four-man group on three under, with Walker Cup-bound amateur Eliot Baker providing the day’s most intriguing subplot.
Kinhult turns an untidy round into a 67
Kinhult began from the tenth and reached the turn in 33 after three birdies and no dropped shots. Another gain followed after the turn, before bogeys at the second and fourth threatened to turn a very good day into something more ordinary.
The fourth was the hinge. A wayward tee shot cost him a ball, yet he escaped with a bogey six and then reeled off three straight birdies. Links golf occasionally rewards the repentant.
Kinhult was hardly pretending he had striped it. It was a very ugly minus five. Tee to green, it was not great to be honest – I’m not going to complain, I’m very happy with the score, but I was a little bit off off the tee, and also into the green. My short game and putting was unbelievable today, which obviously helps, so I’m happy with the score.
I think the bogey on four the most important, to be honest, because I lost a ball left off the tee, so I made birdie on my second ball, which was good for the momentum. Had I made a seven there, it would’ve been tough to get back I guess, and that six felt very, very good. Then some bonus putts dropped in the end there as well.
I don’t know the split, but I feel like the afternoon was probably a bit easier than this morning. When I walked outside this morning at 7 o’clock, it was raining pretty hard and it was cold, so I think we got the better draw today. It was tough.
It’s slightly different this year. I remember last year the wind was the other direction, so the course is playing completely differently, so it’s a good challenge for sure.
It is the sort of round professionals learn to cherish. The swing need not be framed for the mantelpiece if the number beside your name is 67.
Eliot Baker makes his debut count
Two shots behind, Baker had rather less professional scar tissue to draw on. The 23-year-old was making his DP World Tour debut only two days after being named in the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team, and promptly shot 69.
His front nine contained an eagle, two birdies and three bogeys — less a steady introduction than a brisk tour of the possibilities. Birdies at the 11th and 18th left him sharing second with Andrew Wilson, Félix Mory and Benjamin Follett-Smith.
I didn’t really know what to expect from today, but I just enjoyed the experience out there and thankfully it went well. I just kind of kept patient, got off to a nice start, which made it a lot easier and got a lot more comfortable. I just made sure I kept the ball in play and just kept on the right side of the pins.
I think when I turned up, I was expecting the greens maybe to be a bit firmer but there’s obviously been a lot of rain up here. So, it’s a lot softer than I was expecting but it’s not changed from the practice days.
No expectation this week, just purely trying to enjoy it, gaining the experience and hoping it builds me as a player.
It’s a very similar course to what we’re going to be playing at Lahinch (at the Walker Cup). We’re hoping to get some weather like this, so it plays in our favour. I mean, it’s huge for the confidence. Hopefully we can do a good job over there.
There is some useful symmetry there. Baker is learning his trade in conditions that may prove familiar at Lahinch, while discovering that a DP World Tour scorecard remains stubbornly rectangular no matter how grand the occasion feels.
Nexo Championship chasers gather behind the leader
A further shot back on two under sat Jacob Skov Olesen, Lucas Bjerregaard, Matthew Southgate, Haydn McCullen, Albin Bergstrom, Keita Nakajima, Jason Scrivener and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson.
That is enough traffic to make a two-shot lead useful rather than comfortable. One gust, one poor drive or one reluctant putter can rearrange a links leaderboard with indecent speed.
For Kinhult, however, the opening round offered something more valuable than aesthetic satisfaction. He scored well without believing he played especially well. Golfers tend to regard that combination rather fondly.
Patrick Reed steady as Grant Forrest slips over par
Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed opened at level par, matched by John Daly II on his DP World Tour debut. Defending champion Grant Forrest signed for a 73 to finish one over.
None is remotely removed from the conversation after one round, although Kinhult has already banked the commodity every golfer wants on a difficult links course: shots in hand.
The weather may also continue to have a say. Kinhult believed his afternoon draw was probably kinder than the cold and rain endured earlier in the day, while also noting that a change in wind direction from the previous year had transformed the way the course played.
Trump International Golf Links is hardly short of defences without the atmosphere joining in.
Kinhult’s 67 gives round two a sharper edge
The intriguing part of Kinhult’s Nexo Championship lead is how he reached five under. He did not dominate from tee to green; he survived, scrambled and then punished the course when his chances appeared.
That can be read two ways. Either the machinery requires attention, or the leader has room to improve while already sitting two clear. His rivals may prefer the first interpretation.
Baker has even less reason to manufacture a grand narrative. A 69 on his DP World Tour debut in testing conditions, with the Walker Cup at Lahinch next month, is useful evidence all by itself.
Kinhult leads by two. The wind, meanwhile, has already demonstrated that it has very little respect for arithmetic.
