Doonbeg (Ireland), Sep 11 (IANS) Joaquin Niemann produced a late birdie burst to card a 65 and lead the way after day one of the Amgen Irish Open at Doonbeg, Ireland, on Friday.
The Chilean made four birdies in a row from the 14th to get to five under and set the target at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel, Ireland, Doonbeg on a day when the wind made scoring difficult.
The conditions also led to unavoidable delays and some players will have to return early on day two to complete their opening rounds.
Home hero and 2009 champion Shane Lowry was in the clubhouse at three under after completing his 67 in the fading light, two shots off the lead alongside South African Shaun Norris.
Rory McIlroy (69) was T-17 at 1-under 69 with three birdies and a double bogey, and Jon Rahm carded a 70 to be T-34. Poland’s Adrian Meronk, Austrian Maximilian Steinlechner and Italian Renato Paratore were also at three under with holes still to play.
Niemann has three top-ten finishes in his last four DP World Tour starts, including a best Major finish of a tie for seventh at the U.S. Open, and he was relishing the conditions on the County Clare coast as he looks for a second DP World Tour title after his maiden win at the 2024 ISPS Australian Open.
The 27-year-old got up and down from the sand on the par-five fourth and played a brilliant recovery on the sixth to turn in 34, but then dropped his only shot of the day with a three-putt on the 12th.
A remarkable tee shot to three feet on the 14th then set his birdie run in motion, with a smart approach at the next, another excellent tee shot at the 16th and a stunning wedge to two feet at the penultimate hole catapulting him up the leaderboard.
Lowry made a fast start as he holed a long putt at the second, took advantage of the fourth and then drove the par-four sixth to set up another birdie. He then sandwiched a gain on the eighth with bogeys on the seventh and ninth before putting his tee shot to eight feet on the 14th.
Norris holed from off the green at the sixth in between gains at the par-five fourth and eighth, and while he dropped a shot on the 15th, he picked it straight back up on the next.
–IANS
bsk/