Korhonen, Manassero share KLM Open lead

Stimpmeter · June 20, 2024, 7:15pm

Mikko Korhonen added a birdie-birdie finish to a hole-in-one to join Matteo Manassero at the top of the leaderboard after day one of the KLM Open.

Manassero had finished a bogey-free 64 with two birdies of his own to set the target at seven under at The International just days after teeing it up in the US Open as his remarkable renaissance continues.

But Korhonen – making just his third start of the season – joined him at the summit, one shot clear of Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino.

American Sean Crocker, Italian Edoardo Molinari, England’s James Morrison and Swede Henrik Norlander were then two shots off the lead.

English duo Ross Fisher and Callum Shinkwin, Italian Filippo Celli and Swede Espen Kofstad were at four under.

South Africa’s Zander Lombard shared 12th position on three under after a round of 68 that included four birdies and a bogey, while countrymen Thomas Aiken, Darren Fichardt, Casey Jarvis, Jayden Schaper and Robin Williams all carded 69.

Italian Manassero won his fifth DP World Tour title earlier this season at the Jonsson Workwear Open, nearly 14 years after becoming the youngest winner in DP World Tour history.

There were 3,942 days between his fourth and fifth wins, a period that saw him take a brief break from the game and go back to the European Challenge Tour.

Last week he was back on the biggest stage at the US Open and while he missed the cut at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, he bounced back in fine style in the Netherlands.

“Very satisfying,” he said. “It is a tough course so you need to earn a round like this around here and the conditions obviously helped us, the course is firming up so it is playing a little shorter and the wind never really pumped. So, it was a good day to play some good golf and have a good round but never easy.

“On the weekend I was tired. I didn’t play but it is kind of stressful, and stressful in a good way, because you put all your energy into preparing for the US Open and it beats you up and then you have a drop in adrenalin, so I was a little bit tired, but I am really happy to be playing. The US Open was a really tough experience, but I want to take it for what it is and reset.”

Manassero made the most of the par-five 3rd after laying up and then put an approach to eight feet at the 5th before making another gain after laying up on a par five at the 8th.

A lengthy putt on the 9th saw him turn in 32 and he made a 15-footer on the 14th, put a stunning tee-shot to three feet on the 17th and got up and down for a closing birdie.

Korhonen is a two-time DP World Tour winner but his appearance at last month’s Soudal Open was his first in over 12 months.

“Speechless,” he said. “The hole-in-one was a nice little extra there but it was a solid round, everything was pretty solid. Putted well, hit it well off the tee, no complaints.

“I was pretty good off the tee today. I didn’t hit it into the long stuff which was key today.”

Korhonen made his ace with an eight iron from 159 yards on the fourth and added: “It was 145 metres with an eight iron straight at it. It pitched five or six inches before the hole and one bounce, and then we celebrated.”

Starting on the 10th, the Finn played exemplary irons into his opener, the 11th and 16th and then made a two-putt birdie on the 18th to turn in 31.

The ace then catapulted him into a share of the lead and while he bogeyed the 7th, he made a two-putt birdie on the 8th and holed a long putt on the 9th to get back into a share.

Hoshino – playing just his second event since March after suffering a collapsed lung – bogeyed the 2nd and 9th but between made four birdies, the highlight being a tee-shot to tap-in range at the 4th.

He then made four in a row from the 11th with an excellent putting display and added another birdie on the 16th before three-putting the next.

Morrison birdied four of his last five in a bogey-free round, while Molinari paired a single bogey with six birdies.

Norlander also recorded a single bogey in his 66, with playing partner Crocker recording an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys.

Korhonen was not the only player to enjoy a hole-in-one on day one, Malaysia’s Gavin Green holed a five iron from 222 yards at the 17th.

– Edited report from DP World Tour website

Photo: Octavio Passos/Getty Images

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