A trio of European Tour veterans dominated the first round of the Volvo China Open on Thursday after shooting a challenging 4-under 68, with China’s top golfer Li Haotong stuck in a tie in 14th place.
Michael Hendry of New Zealand and Welshman Bradley Dredge were the only two golfers to achieve bogey-free rounds on a day where firm greens and strong winds caused others to struggle. English golfer David Howell posted one bogey alongside five birdies.
"The greens were really firm so the big thing was if you were hitting fairways, you had chances on the par 5s and short irons," said Dredge. "It was never easy getting the ball close to the hole with slopes on the greens and the firmness, it was quite tricky around there."
The 35-year-old Hendry is also playing confidently following his win the previous week in the season-opening event on the Japan Tour, which earned him $215,000 and vouchers for a year's worth of rice in Japan.
"I think it'll take me about a decade to get through," Hendry joked. "It's a funny game, golf. When you are in form, you've got to try to make the most of it because you spend most of the time out of form."
The three were a stroke ahead of another trio of golfers in fourth that included defending champion Alexander Levy of France and Marcus Fraser of Australia.
Li Haotong and Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand both shot 71 to sit in tie for 14th. Kiradech previously bested the 19-year-old Li on Sunday during the playoffs to capture his second European Tour title at the Shenzhen International.
Li recovered from his disappointing performance last week to post a solid first-round score. He had been leading by two strokes on the back in Shenzhen on Sunday when Kiradech made an eagle on his penultimate hole and bagged the title on the first playoff hole.
"I'm pretty satisfied with my game, especially the last two rounds [in Shenzhen]. I couldn't complain about anything," Li said.
Another Chinese golfer in the field is Guan Tianliang, who made headlines two years ago when he became the youngest player ever to make the cut at the Masters at the age of 14. Today, the 16-year-old Guan had triple bogey on par-4 11th hole to sit in 76th place after a 75.