French Open first round suspended
The first round of the French Open was suspended before completion on Thursday after thunderstorms caused a 150 minute delay earlier in the day.
Play will continue on Friday, with Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer leading after finishing the first 14 holes on four-under.
Kieffer shot a double bogey and six birdies to take a one shot leads, with five players tied for second place on three-under.
Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, France’s Victor Dubuisson and South Africa Jaco van Zyl all managed to finish the round and card scores of 68.
Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello and New Zealand’s Andrew Dodt also finished on three-under, but must still play the 18th and ninth holes respectively.
Dubuisson, the home favourite, carded four birdies and a bogey for his score and told the European Tour website that he was pleased with his performance.
“I had a really unlucky bogey on 14 with three good shots, and then the most difficult holes were coming – 15, 16 and 18,” he said.
“I managed to stay calm and make a really good birdie on 18. On this course, it can turn really bad, and what I did today was very good especially with all this pressure.
“I’m very pleased. I feel the expectation and a little bit of pressure from the crowd, because I especially want to do well for them, more than in other tournaments. This one is like a Major for me.”
Wiesberger shot four birdies and a bogey, while Van Zyl shot three birdies and stayed bogey- free.
“It’s one of those golf courses where there are a couple of holes you can score on, but you can never really let your guard down,” Van Zyl said.
“One day I’ll be hitting it nicely and the putter is not behaving, and the next day the putter is behaving but I’m not hitting it as well. I’m just waiting for it all to come back in one piece and then hopefully it will be a good week.”
Graeme McDowell won the 2013 and 2014 installments of this tournament, but is languishing near the middle of the leaderboard. The Northern Irishman shot four bogeys and five birdies to finish the 17th hole on one-over.
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