Tournament: ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by Modest! Golf Management
Race to Dubai: Tournament 24 of 42 events
Venues: Galgorm/Massereene Golf Club, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Prize Fund: €1,500,000
Hashtag: #WorldInvitational

Thursday July 29, 2021

Day One Report

Jordan Smith carded a superb opening 62 to take a two-stroke lead after the opening round of the ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by Modest! Golf Management men’s event at Galgorm Castle Golf Club, where the Englishman has previous form with first round leads.

The Northern Irish venue hosted the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open last September, when Smith shared the lead after the opening 18 holes. The 30-year-old eventually earned a top ten finish on that occasion, and will be hoping to improve on that this week as he targets a second European Tour victory.

Smith enjoyed a stunning back nine as seven birdies on the way home contributed to a seven under 29 and an eight under total, leaving him two clear of near-namesake Matthias Schmid – the rising German star who earned the Silver Medal as leading amateur in The Open two weeks ago – and Scot David Drysdale.

Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura was a shot further back on five under par after an opening 65 while Nacho Elvira, winner of last week’s Cazoo Open supported by Gareth Bale, was one of six players in a share of  fifth spot. Eddie Pepperell was another of those on four under par having carded the lowest round at Massereene Golf Club.

In the women’s tournament, running concurrent to the men’s in the innovative tri-sanctioned event, American Jennifer Kupcho, Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh and Korea’s Chella Choi share the first round lead on seven under par.

Player Quotes

Jordan Smith: “Everything came together really. I’ve been struggling with my iron play recently, but that and my wedge game and my putting were really, really good today. I’m not going to lie. So yeah, just carry on for tomorrow. More of that would be great.

“I’ve felt like it’s been sort of trending in the right way. It just hasn’t all come together at the right point. My putting has been good and my iron play has been good, it’s been one or the other, but today it sort of all came together, and more of the same.

“I just like the layout. I think it suits me – I think there’s a lot of tee shots where you’ve got to hit left to right, and it’s been suiting my eye so far.”

Max Schmid: “I started well with a couple birdies and had a couple dropped shots towards the end of the front nine, but back nine was great. I’m very delighted with that.

“So far I like the professional life a lot, actually. I’ve been dreaming to do this for a long time, it’s my second event and I’m enjoying it a lot. It’s great. I’ve got some momentum. I know I’m a good player, so I think I can keep up with these guys out here if I play well. I hope I can show that a few more times.”

David Drysdale: “It was pretty solid really overall. Hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens. Knocked a couple of putts in. Yeah, never really put myself in any bother. Just the one bogey on number three. Hit the second shot in the left trap and didn’t get up-and-down. But other than that it was quite a stress-free round of golf.

“I’ve got no idea about a gameplan for tomorrow – just try and hit good shot after good shot, do what I’ve done today. This game is like, one day you think you’ve got it cracked, the next day it gives you a good kick. You never know where you’re at in this game. As much as you can sit here and say Massereene is an easier golf course, you would expect, the game doesn’t sort of always turn out that way.”

Day One Scores:

62 J SMITH (ENG),

64 M SCHMID (GER), D DRYSDALE (SCO),

65 M KAWAMURA (JPN),

66 M SCHMITT (GER), N ELVIRA (ESP), C HILL (SCO), M BALDWIN (ENG), E PEPPERELL (ENG), A CA?IZARES (ESP),

67 C SHINKWIN (ENG), D HORSEY (ENG), T JAIDEE (THA), D HILLIER (NZL), O FARR (WAL), A SULLIVAN (ENG), E DE LA RIVA (ESP), H LEON (CHI), D LAW (SCO), T MCKIBBIN (NIR), J KRUYSWIJK (RSA), J MORRISON (ENG), D WHITNELL (ENG),

68 A CHESTERS (ENG), G PORTEOUS (ENG), S JAMIESON (SCO), R MCEVOY (ENG), B POKE (DEN), H DU PLESSIS (RSA), M ANTCLIFF (AUS), E WALKER (SCO), A SANDHU (IND), D DIXON (ENG), S KIM (USA), B DREDGE (WAL), J SENIOR (ENG), M POWER (AM) (IRL),

69 N KEARNEY (IRL), A LEVY (FRA), M WARREN (SCO), R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA), S KJELDSEN (DEN), G FDEZ-CASTA?O (ESP), D PAPADATOS (AUS), M LAMB (ENG), F LAPORTA (ITA), B WINDRED (AUS), R LUMSDEN (SCO), L BJERREGAARD (DEN), J SCHAPER (RSA), J WRISDALE (ENG), V NORRMAN (SWE), W BESSELING (NED), N VON DELLINGSHAUSEN (GER), J CATLIN (USA), A SADDIER (FRA), A ZEMMER (ITA), P PETERSON (USA),

70 T MURRAY (ENG), S THORNTON (IRL), S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP), C PIGEM (ESP), C O’ROURKE (IRL), P MCBRIDE (IRL), D PERRIER (FRA), J MURPHY (IRL), S TARRIO (ESP), M HOEY (NIR), J HARDING (RSA), B EASTON (RSA), P FIGUEIREDO (POR), D VAN DRIEL (NED), J STALTER (FRA), B EVANS (ENG), S SHARMA (IND), B HENSON (USA),

71 D HOWELL (ENG), G STORM (ENG), J GONNET (FRA), H PORTEOUS (RSA), D COUPLAND (ENG), J GUERRIER (FRA), A QUIROS (ESP), P ANGLES (ESP), R ENOCH (WAL), M FORD (ENG), B RITTHAMMER (GER), M ARMITAGE (ENG), B MACPHERSON (AUS), J CALDWELL (NIR), J LONG (ENG), B SCHMIDT (ENG), H ELLIS (ENG), S HEND (AUS), D GAVINS (ENG),

72 A OTAEGUI (ESP), L JOHNSTON (SCO), S BROWN (ENG), D MCELROY (NIR), G HAVRET (FRA), A BAUTISTA (AUS), J KASKE (FIN), J SUGRUE (IRL), G FORREST (SCO), L VAN MEIJEL (NED), G BHULLAR (IND), C SYME (SCO), L CANTER (ENG), P DUNNE (IRL), D LAWSON (AUS), K REITAN (NOR), R WATTEL (FRA), N H?JGAARD (DEN),

73 S YONGCHAROENCHAI (THA), E O’BRIEN (IRL), C SHARVIN (NIR), A DEL REY (ESP), A TOSTI (ARG), R MANSELL (ENG), R CAMPBELL (SCO), C SORDET (FRA), R SANTOS (POR), M JORDAN (ENG), J SURI (USA), C MORIARTY (IRL),

74 K BROBERG (SWE), C PURCELL (IRL), M REID (AM) (NIR),

75 R LESTER (IRL), L SLATTERY (ENG), B MCCARROLL (IRL), D YOUNG (SCO), J HILL (AM) (NIR), B GILL (ENG), J GEARY (NZL),

76 B NEIL (SCO), R WILLIAMS (ENG), J MCLEOD (AUS),

77 H DOBSON (ENG),

79 T KOIVISTO (USA),

80 R MORAN (AM) (IRL),

81 G MOYNIHAN (IRL),

82 C WILLIAMS (IRL),

**

OUT E SMYLIE (AUS),