| * Hedblom makes early headway
Peter Hedblom was the early pacesetter at The London Golf Club, surging to the top of The European Open leaderboard with two birdies and an eagle in his opening six holes on Thursday morning.
The Swede, vying for his sixth victory on The European Tour, started on the back nine and after opening with a birdie he added a second at the par-five 12th. An eagle three followed on the 548-yard 15th, moving him to four under par.
Ross Fisher is tied with five others at three under par after a superb opening two holes. The winner of The 2007 KLM Open title started on the tenth and following two quick birdies added another two the 15th and 16th to move to four under par.
A bogey on the 17th brought him back to three under par, alongside countryman Ian Poulter. Poulter made a sparkling start to the €3 million tournament - back in England after 13 years at The K Club near Dublin - when his approach to the 426-yard tenth hit the flagstick and stopped two inches away.
South African duo Hennie Otto and James Kingston were in joint second with Per-Ulrik Johansson and Colin Montgomerie.
Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose were among the later starters. |