Ormsby hits blemish-free 64 to lead BMW Open in Munich

Wade Ormsby enjoyed a spectacular return to form as he fired a blemish-free 64 to take the first-round lead at the BMW International Open in Munich yesterday.

The Australian had missed three cuts in succession but returned to form in Germany, getting to eight under to take a one-shot lead from Belgian Thomas Detry.

Sergio Garcia marked his first appearance on European soil since winning the Masters by heading into the second day in third place.

The Spaniard launched his round with six birdies as he compiled a six-under-par 66 to leave him trailing Ormsby by two shots.

Garcia won the first major of his career in April when he beat Justin Rose in a sudden death play-off to claim the Masters and is one of three players on six under at the Golfclub Munchen.

Defending champion Henrik Stenson is a shot behind on five under, where he is joined by England’s Richard Bland, James Morrison, Tommy Fleetwood and Matthew Southgate.

“It was great,” said Garcia to the European Tour’s official website.

“I felt like I played quite well, not spectacular, but very consistent throughout the whole day. I was very happy to see some of the shots I hit and some of the putts I made and very happy with my six under.

“There’s still three more to go, so we’re going to keep playing hard and hopefully we’ll have some more like this and we’ll be up there on Sunday.”

Ormsby stormed out of the blocks to turn in 30 after starting on the 10th.

He said: “It’s huge for me, this time of year. I’ve worked pretty hard the last six weeks and three missed cuts, I haven’t got what I wanted out of it.”

Leading Scots are Duncan Stewart and Stephen Gallacher on two-under 70, with Scott Jamieson one shot further back.

David Drysdale is level-par, while former Open champion Paul Lawrie carded a one-overpar 73. Marc Warren is twoover.

Meanwhile Paul Peterson recorded the 19th hole-in-one of the season when he holed a four iron on the second and Andres Romero took the tally to 20 when he repeated the trick with a five iron later in the day.

Rory McIlroy is three shots off the lead after the first round of the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.

The Ryder Cup star, who missed the cut at the US Open last week, carded a 67 – three behind joint leaders Brett Stegmaier and Johnson Wagner.

Scot Martin Laird is two-over after carding a 72 and sits alongside major winners Jason Day and Vijay Singh.

Sergio Garcia tees off at the third hole.