Daniel Gaunt was again singing the praise of the person who has been instrumental in a dramatic change of fortunes for the 36-year old Aussie and that’s supercaddy John ‘Ronnie’ Roberts.
‘Ronnie’ is again on the bag and with the duo storming their way to a share of the lead on the opening day of the M2M Russian Open in suburban Moscow.
The 36-year old Gaunt, who with ‘Ronnie’ by his side secured a European best of second in the recent Made in Denmark event and just weeks after a then career high of T9th in the BMW International Open, birdied his closing hole after some earlier dramatics to end the round tied on six under par with Scot Scott Jamieson.
Gaunt got off to a flying start with four birdies and a sensational chip-in eagle at the 12th before giving the two shots back with a double bogey at the 15th.
Aussie Daniel Gaunt again singing the praise of supercaddy John ‘Ronnie’ Roberts after storming to a share of the lead in Moscow. (Photo – www.europeantour.com)
But with ‘Ronnie’ by his side and continuing to call the shots, Gaunt bounced back in superb manner with birdies at the 16th and final holes in a round of six under par 65 in mixed weather on the Skolkovo Golf Club course.
“I played great golf today holing some good putts, including starting one putt, one putt, one putt and something like that,” said Gaunt.
“So it’s nice to post a 65 and be sharing the lead with the clear highlight that great chip-in for eagle at 12 after bombing a drive down the fairway and then cutting a 3-wood that I missed just right but I then committed to the chip shot and the shot just ran out perfectly, straight into the middle of the hole.
“But once again Ronnie’s been great in keeping me going and I’m now looking forward very much to building on this round.”
Gaunt did miss the cut in last week’s Czech Masters but he’s put that behind him very quickly as evident in a round that also included six birdies and his only blemish being a double bogey at 15.
“Last week, I wasn’t stressed about missing the cut,” added Gaunt.
“I got told I was playing great golf and I just came out here believing that now and if I can keep that up, one shot at a time, the results will take care of themselves.”
Jamieson, starting his round at the tenth tee, carded six birdies – including four in a row at the beginning of his back nine – on his way to a flawless 65 and he was pleased with the way he finished his round.
He said: “The birdie putt at nine was looking good but it was just a relief to see it settle just a foot from the hole.
“It’s a tough hole today, playing into the wind with a back pin so three is a good score there.”
Lee Slattery and Bradley Dredge are one stroke further back while defending champion David Horsey is among the large group on four under.
Slattery mixed six birdies with a solitary bogey to finish on five under, while consecutive birdies at his final two holes saw Dredge join him in a tie for third.
Dredge was delighted with his score. He said: “I’m very pleased with five under, it’s a good score around here today.
“It got a bit tricky at times, we had some breeze and a bit of rain, so a couple of things to contend with but overall a good score.
“Obviously it’s only round one and there’s a long way to go, but you can certainly put yourself out of it on the first day so I played steady apart from a couple of poor shots around the turn. Other than that – a good solid round.”
* Thanks to www.europeantour.com for the body of the story.
