The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Neil inside top 50 but seven off Beijing lead
Bradley picks up five birdies as world No 1,426 leads at China Open
Bradley Neil’s opening round of one under par left him placed just inside the top 50 of the Volvo China Open.
The Blairgowrie golfer picked up five birdies and two double-bogeys in his 71, leaving the former Amateur champion in a tie for 48th.
Neil was seven shots behind surprise leader Daxing Jin of China, who is ranked 1,426th in the world.
Meanwhile, Matt Wallace reaped the rewards of putting the Ryder Cup firmly to the back of his mind with a 65.
Wallace followed his victory in the Hero Indian Open by missing the cut in his next two events, but bounced back to top form in Beijing to card an eagle, seven birdies and two bogeys at Topwin Golf and Country Club.
That gave the 28-year-old Englishman a share of second place on seven under par with Italy’s Nino Bertasio.
“I made a couple of bogeys, which were probably mental errors rather than swing errors, but I’m swinging it great and really happy after today,” Wallace said.
“I have been trying to shorten my swing for a while, it’s been an ongoing thing since I’ve been working with (fellow European Tour professional) Robert Rock and I’ve never really managed to do it, but last week, I found something.
“It’s a weird feeling. I feel like I’m swinging it halfway (back), but I’m not losing any distance and I’m just hitting better shots. I had two missed cuts, but I was trending in the right direction. I was swinging it nicely, hitting some good shots.
“Last week was a different test playing with the Ryder Cup captain Mr Bjorn (in the first two rounds of the Hassan Trophy) and I just tried to impress him too much and I’ll learn from that.”
Jin compiled a flawless 64, which included six birdies and a chip-in eagle on the par-five eighth, his penultimate hole of the day.
“I played really well today,” said Jin, who had missed the cut in this event last year.
“I’m really happy with my form and I have to say, I would give myself 100 marks for today’s round.
“I’ve been relaxed coming into this week because I don’t have too much expectation, but I’ll just keep playing one stroke at a time, one day at a time, and see how it goes for me.”
Scott Jamieson was top Scot on five under (sixth), while Marc Warren was four over.