Omega European Masters: Morrison hits new heights in Crans Montana

Round One Report

James Morrison climbed to the summit of the Omega European Masters leaderboard with an impressive ten under par round of 60, setting both a new course record and his lowest round on the European Tour.

The Englishman took full advantage of the glorious morning conditions at Golf Club Crans-sur-Sierre to open up a three shot lead after round one, and admitted he had the second 59 on Tour in his sights, following his countryman Oliver Fisher’s record round at the 2018 Portugal Masters.

The solidarity bogey
All eyes were on the two-time European Tour winner as he got to seven under par through 15 holes on the par 70 Severiano Ballesteros Course. He duly recorded back to back birdies on the seventh and eighth – his 16th and 17th – but left himself too much to do with an eagle chip on the last, and settled for his ninth birdie of the day, alongside an eagle and a solitary bogey.

Fellow Englishman Marcus Armitage and Robin Sciot-Siegrist of France recorded seven under par rounds of 63, with Armitage finding inspiration for his bogey-free effort upon his return to the site of his engagement four years ago. It was also a memorable day for Sciot-Siegrist, who recorded his best round of the season, with a bogey on the first the only blemish on his card.

His countryman Andy Sullivan and Dean Burmester of South Africa are one shot further back on six under par, with Belgian pair Nicolas Colsaerts and Thomas Detry, Frenchman Julien Guerrier, Renato Paratore and amateur Pietro Bovari of Italy and American Paul Peterson on five under par.

Player Quotes

James Morrison: “We were the first group out at 7.40am and the greens were absolutely perfect this morning, with no wind. You know you’ve got to take advantage, but doing it is another thing. Holed a couple of good putts, chipped in at 11, and it just snowballed from there. Bogied the 18th, my ninth, to be four under par through nine, but it was just a good, solid start. Hit the right shots when I had to and made a few putts.

“It was funny, after I bogied 18 I went to the first – which is probably the hardest hole on the course – and made birdie there, my caddie said “Come on, I think we can shoot 59 here”. I had eight holes to go and you use that as more of a mental push to keep going forward.

“Had a really good look on the last (the chip for eagle) and thought, just try to make this. The minute your focus goes like that, you chip it stiff, make birdie and shoot ten under par. I was trying to hole that shot on the last, but next time maybe.”

Robin Sciot-Siegrist: “I’m feeling good right now. I’ve been working a lot on my game, mostly my putting, and I’ve been putting well the last few weeks. I’ve had a couple of good rounds the last few weeks so that gives me confidence and I’m playing better at the moment.

“It’s a very tricky course, things can go sideways a bit. You just need to get what you can. I had a good stretch on the front nine and on the back nine I just stuck to my strategy. If things go well, you take it. I don’t know if the course fits my game but you really need to be strategic and I like courses like that. You still need to play well. I just like the set up and it’s beautiful out there.”

Marcus Armitage: “I enjoy the feeling of being here again. I’ve only been here once before and that was when I got engaged four years ago. Unfortunately, Lucy isn’t with me, but just great feelings here, and a couple of weeks off (before this week) have paid dividends.

“Sometimes you can look at a score like that (Morrison’s 60) and try to put the foot down. Then if you don’t start off well you can get frustrated with your own game. This is very much a patience golf course, so even if you see someone like James with ten under – which is an amazing score – you’ve just got to be patient, take your time and construct a round.

“I’m patient in a lot of things. Golf is a massive part of my life, I just love golf so much I can get a little bit frustrated with it, but with a few weeks off it’s calmed me down a bit and I can just enjoy it and be patient. Just excited for the next few weeks and the rest of this week.”

Round One Scores

60 J MORRISON (ENG),
63 M ARMITAGE (ENG), R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA),
64 A SULLIVAN (ENG), D BURMESTER (RSA),
65 P BOVARI (AM) (ITA), R PARATORE (ITA), N COLSAERTS (BEL), T DETRY (BEL), J GUERRIER (FRA), P PETERSON (USA),
66 J HARDING (RSA), S SODERBERG (SWE), M LEE (AUS), M SIEM (GER), D VAN TONDER (RSA), J MCLEOD (AUS), D FICHARDT (RSA),
67 B HEBERT (FRA), A BJ?RK (SWE), M KAWAMURA (JPN), J GONNET (FRA), M JORDAN (ENG), S JAMIESON (SCO), R SABBATINI (SVK), B WIESBERGER (AUT), G MIGLIOZZI (ITA), J DONALDSON (WAL), A CHESTERS (ENG), K MOON (KOR), D VAN DRIEL (NED), R KARLBERG (SWE),
68 J CATLIN (USA), J CAMPILLO (ESP), A PAVAN (ITA), M KAYMER (GER), A JOHNSTON (ENG), V PEREZ (FRA), C HILL (SCO), A OTAEGUI (ESP), R MCGOWAN (ENG), R KLEU (AM) (SUI), R H?JGAARD (DEN), S SHARMA (IND), V DUBUISSON (FRA), D HORSEY (ENG), F ZANOTTI (PAR), J JANEWATTANANOND (THA), J VEERMAN (USA), R LESTER (IRL), A SADDIER (FRA), R ROUSSEL (FRA),
69 W ORMSBY (AUS), A ROZNER (FRA), N ELVIRA (ESP), L BJERREGAARD (DEN), A LEVY (FRA), R RAMSAY (SCO), R SANTOS (POR), Y CHANG (KOR), H ELLIS (ENG), B MACPHERSON (AUS), C GUGLER (AM) (SUI), C SORDET (FRA), M ANTCLIFF (AUS), J HANSEN (DEN), J WALTERS (RSA), R BLAND (ENG), M JIM?NEZ (ESP), N BERTASIO (ITA), D GAVINS (ENG), P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP), S HEISELE (GER),
70 G COETZEE (RSA), R MCEVOY (ENG), T PIETERS (BEL), M LORENZO-VERA (FRA), R LANGASQUE (FRA), J CALDWELL (NIR), M KINHULT (SWE), S HEND (AUS), L SLATTERY (ENG), L VAN MEIJEL (NED), H LEON (CHI), G PORTEOUS (ENG), M PAVON (FRA), C PIGEM (ESP), A CA?IZARES (ESP), D DRYSDALE (SCO), S V?LIM?KI (FIN), D WILLETT (ENG), D HOWELL (ENG), J WINTHER (DEN), O WILSON (ENG), A MERONK (POL),
71 M WARREN (SCO), J KRUYSWIJK (RSA), H STENSON (SWE), S CROCKER (USA), W BESSELING (NED), A COCKERILL (CAN), N LEMKE (SWE), S CHAWRASIA (IND), G HAVRET (FRA), T OLESEN (DEN), K SAMOOJA (FIN), M KORHONEN (FIN), E PEPPERELL (ENG), J STALTER (FRA), B DREDGE (WAL),
72 D LAW (SCO), F MOLINARI (ITA), J SURI (USA), G STORM (ENG), W NIENABER (RSA), S KJELDSEN (DEN), S GALLACHER (SCO), R FISHER (ENG), R JACQUELIN (FRA), O FISHER (ENG), F LAPORTA (ITA), S BROWN (ENG), O FARR (WAL),
73 B EASTON (RSA), R DE SOUSA (SUI), S KIM (USA), M SOUTHGATE (ENG), L GAGLI (ITA), B STONE (RSA), A ARNAUS (ESP), T PULKKANEN (FIN), E MOLINARI (ITA), M BALDWIN (ENG), S YONGCHAROENCHAI (THA), R ROCK (ENG), S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP), C SHARVIN (NIR), D WHITNELL (ENG),
74 M EGGENBERGER (SUI), S HORSFIELD (ENG), Z LOMBARD (RSA), G GREEN (MAS), P FIGUEIREDO (POR), C SYME (SCO), M SCHLIESING (AM) (SUI), J LIMA (POR), J SENIOR (ENG),
75 J LAGERGREN (SWE), G FORREST (SCO),
76 C PAISLEY (ENG), D PERRIER (FRA),
77 H PORTEOUS (RSA), T LEE (KOR),
78 T TREE (ENG), B POKE (DEN),
83 M GILARDI (AM) (SUI),