De Jager dominates in Portugal

Cape Town - Louis de Jager has a two shot lead over the rest of the field after round one of the Portugal Masters on Thursday.

The South African was superb around Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, firing a bogey-free eight under 63 for a two stroke lead over Oliver Fisher, Jake McLeod and fellow countryman Justin Walters. Last year, Fisher carded the first ever 59 on the European Tour at this event. 

De Jager enjoyed a fast start, finding himself five under after seven holes, making the turn in 31. The world No 273 then birdied the second, took advantage of the par five fifth after reaching the green in two and finally holed a 25 footer for his final birdie of the day on the sixth.

"The way I hit the ball and putted, the way I'm reading and seeing the lines, I'm really excited for the rest of the week," quipped the five-time Sunshine Tour winner on europeantour.com.

"It's only the first day but I'm feeling confident."

There are a host of players three shots back on five under, including South Africans Darren Fichardt and Brandon Stone.

Leading first round scores in the Portugal Masters at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, Portugal on Thursday (GBR/IRL unless stated, par 71 ):

63 - Louis De Jager (RSA)

65 - Jake McLeod (AUS), Justin Walters (RSA), Oliver Fisher

66 - Sihwan Kim (KOR), Jeunghun Wang (KOR), Brandon Stone (RSA), David Horsey, Darren Fichardt (RSA), Matthew Southgate, Renato Paratore (ITA)

67 - Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN), Matt Wallace, Jack Singh Brar, Martin Kaymer (GER), Ashley Chesters, Adrien Saddier (FRA), Shubhankar Sharma (IND), Sam Horsfield, Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Alejandro Canizares (ESP), Eddie Pepperell

68 - Adri Arnaus (ESP), Anton Karlsson (SWE), Kalle Samooja (FIN), Alexander Bjork (SWE), Haydn Porteous (RSA), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP), Robert Karlsson (SWE), Andy Sullivan, Robert Rock, Tapio Pulkkanen (FIN), Romain Wattel (FRA), Stephen Gallacher, Jamie Donaldson, John Catlin (USA), Lee Westwood

- TeamTalk Media