ATZENBRUGG, Austria – Gregory Bourdy of France carded a bogey-free 7-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead on a warm and sunny opening day of the Lyoness Open on Thursday.
Bourdy, who missed just one green, hit four birdies on the front nine and seven in total to go two strokes clear of a group of four: England’s Chris Wood and Robert Dinwiddie, Spain’s Carlos Del Moral and Germany’s Maximilian Kiefer.
Former champion Bernd Wiesberger, at 37 the highest-ranked player in the field, had a disappointing 7-over 79. The Austrian, who was beaten for last year’s title by Mikael Lundberg of Sweden in a playoff, had a round without a birdie for the first time this year.
Defending champion Lundberg dropped three strokes on his first three holes but finished on par.