Munich Open day one
June 25, 2015
Germany's only tournament on the PGA Tour calendar, the BMW International Open, got underway on Thursday at Munich's Eichenried golf club. Home favorite and two-time major winner Martin Kaymer ended the day seven strokes behind the three clubhouse leaders.
Just six days after his disappointing outing at the US Open in Washington, where the 30-year old missed the first cut, Kaymer teed off at his home tournament with high hopes. The 2008 tournament winner began his round in poor fashion though.
A five-shot bogey on the first hole was met with a double bogey on the third hole, leaving Kaymer three-over par after just three holes. A birdie on the fifth and another bogey on eight followed, before Kaymer ended his front-nine with a birdie. The back-nine was a vast improvement, as the former world number one collected two birdies to bring his score to level par after the first round.
"At the moment it's very frustrating," Kaymer told reporters after his first round. "My front nine is usually very good here, but today that wasn't the case."
Three leaders at the top
Top of the leaderboard and on course for the two million euro pot ($2.24 million) are Denmark's Lasse Jensen, England's Daniel Gaunt and Spain's Rafa Cabrera-Bello. All three ended the day with seven-under par rounds of 65. Cabrera-Bello impressed with nine birdies through his round, whilst Gaunt and Jensen produced just a single bogey between them.
Tournament favorite and world number seven, Henrik Stenson, ended with a strong five-under par round of 67, despite a triple-bogey seven on the 16th. Florian Fritsch and Marcel Schneider lead the way as the best German players, both carding four-under par rounds of 68.
As the only German tournament on the European tour, fans have flocked to get a flavor of top level golf. Germany could also host the Ryder Cup for the first time in 2022, with an official bid placed by the Berlin-Schmarmützelsee course in the country's capital. A decision on the tournament host will be announced towards the end of the year. Other bids have been submitted by Spain, Italy and Austria.