American Kevin Stadler leads the Alstom Open de France on day 1 at Le Golf National in Paris.
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Kevin put together an opening round of -7 under par 64 to lead the French Open in Paris by one shot. He was delighted by his bogey free opener;
“It’s one of my best rounds of the year for sure, to not make a bogey out there is something I didn’t think was possible when I first played it. It’s instantly one of my favourite courses ever, I thought it was spectacular from hole one to the end.”
“They talk about the last four holes but they are doing a discredit to the previous 14. I have always wanted to come over here, the guys in the US tell me it’s one of the best events of the year and it has not let me down. It has been fantastic.”
Close behind after a first round -6 under par 65 is Marcel Siem from Germany, who is just that one shot back. What is interesting is that Germany play France in the World Cup in Brazil this weekend, and it will interesting to see who comes out on top here in Paris between these two golfers.
Marcel admitted he was tired, was feeling the effects of coping with his enlarged family, having recently welcomed his second child into the world. He was also happy that the putts had started to drop for him;
“I was really tired , I can’t wait to go to bed. I said that to my caddie on the third hole, I need to get my batteries loaded up.”
“I always enjoy coming back here, I love the track and had a good start this morning. The putts finally started dropping, last week my putting was horrible, so I am really pleased.”
Stephen Gallacher is in third place, he shot -5 under par 66 in the first round, he actually played his first 14 holes in seven under par, before the wheels came off. Stephen is hoping to qualify for the Ryder Cup;
” I’m trying not to be too outcome-orientated, just think of what I’m doing on the course and hopefully it’s good enough.”
“I missed a putt to go eight under and didn’t do too much wrong on the last couple of holes, but that’s what this course can do. I’ll still take two shots better than my previous best in this event.”
The defending champion Graeme McDowell was six shots off the lead after a first round of -1 under par 70, while his playing partner and US Open Champion Martin Kaymer only managed to card a +1 over par 72.
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