Boyd sets early Munich target

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June 23, 2011

Gary Boyd has fired a sparkling 65 in the first round of the BMW International Open to set a target that won’t easily be beaten.

And he could have made his target even stiffer had he not slowed his eight-strong birdie charge with a bogey six at his last, the 557 yard, par five 9th where he missed the green with his third and then needed a pitch and two putts to get the ball in the hole.

Midway through the day as the earlier starters began coming in, the up-and-coming 24-year-old Englishman was leading by a shot from Dutchman Tim Sluiter, a European Tour rookie ranked 1,368th on the Official World Golf Rankings list.

Scot George Murray, Englishman Mark Foster and South African Jbe Kruger were a further stroke back, while two-time US Open Champion Retief Goosen was part of a group on four under.

World Number Three Martin Kaymer of Germany and American star Dustin Johnson were one under and two under respectively, while Paul Casey had been going well at four under until he strayed into thick rough left of the seventh fairway.

Casey’s first two hacks moved the ball only a few feet, he then went over the fairway for four, into a bunker for five and eventually into the hole for a quadruple bogey eight. Phew!

Boyd, whose round included a 40-foot putt on the short 17th, said: “I holed some great putts when I needed to and that’s been the difference the last couple of weeks.

“I’ve been working a lot on pace – the hole never comes to the ball, does it?”

Late starters included Sergio Garcia, Matteo Manassero, Henrik Stenson and Bernhard Langer.

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