Englishman Marco Penge was part of a five-way tie at the top of a logjammed leaderboard after the first round of the BMW International Open.
Penge carded eight birdies, a dropped shot and double bogey to set the clubhouse target at five under par at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried.
Malaysia’s Gavin Green had a calmer opening round of six birdies and a bogey in his 67, while China’s Ding Wenyi birdied four of his final five holes – to go with an eagle, another gain and two dropped shots – to reach five under.
Dutchman Darius van Driel signed for six birdies and a bogey to reach the summit, while France’s Ugo Coussaud produced the round of the day with his flawless 67.
“This course is one that I’ve been looking forward to coming back to,” Penge said. “Personally, I feel like for a long hitter there are quite a few big advantages.
“Quite a lot of tee-shots that you can gain a lot of strokes. It’s nice to be at a golf course where you can kind of let it rip a bit. And coming from last week, last week was like the polar opposite. I was really looking forward to coming here.
“Getting a PGA Tour card is my biggest goal, my main goal for the season.”
Eighteen players are within two shots of the leading quintet, with English trio Nathan Kimsey, Richard Mansell and Jordan Smith and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson leading the chasing pack at four under.
The Scottish pair of Richie Ramsay and Grant Forrest head the 10-strong group at three under, however compatriot and defending champion Ewen Ferguson is at three over.
What’s next?
The Open – the final men’s major of the year – is then held from July 17-20, with extended live coverage from all seven days of tournament week exclusively live on Sky Sports. Coverage of the opening round starts on Thursday July 17 from 6.30am. Not got Sky? Stream the majors and more with no contract.
