Scotland’s David Law emerged from the five-month golfing lockdown to celebrate his 50th main Tour event with a career low 64 on day one of the BetFred British Masters at Close House – https://closehouse.com/
Law, 29 didn’t drop a shot in his seven-under scoring spree to end the round one shot clear of the trio of the England pari of Ollie ‘Mr. 59’ Fisher and Garrick Porteouos along with Italian Renato Paratore who posted 65s.
Fellow Scot Calum Hill swapped the Arizona desert for the lush green Northumberland countryside in signing for a four-under par 67 and share eighth place.
David Law shoots a European Tour career best 64 to lead British Masters – https://closehouse.com/
Hill has not had a Tour scorecard in his back pocket since missing the cut last March at the Qatar Masters and now after fellow Scot Marc Warren won in Austria, Hill is already looking to do the same in the first of six straight events in England and Wales.
The Paul Lawrie ‘5star’ managed Hill brilliantly capped his round with five birdies in succession from the sixth hole and then birdied the 12th and 13th hole.
In fact, Law pared his opening five holes, was six under for the next nine, and then also pared his last five holes.
He said: “I was playing steady but then you’re not be sure what to expect coming in today after the long break, so very delighted with that.
“It’s still a little strange playing without spectators and given the restrictions but the Tour have done a fantastic job with the hotel that’s hosting us looking after us really well.
“It’s a new time for us, we’re all learning and we’ll all have to get used to it. The whole week so far has been very positive.
“Also, we’ve been lucky at home and not had anyone affected by the illness, thankfully. My daughter is 19-months old, so to have that extended time at home, I’ll never get that again. We had a great time. It was a nice time for me because I wasn’t playing the best going into that break. It was a good time to recharge and regroup.”
Hill’s 64 is easily his lowest score in 159 rounds on the main Tour since making his debut a decade ago in the Scottish Open, and also two shots fewer than a pair of 66s he shot on route to a maiden Tour win in the co-sanctioned ISPS Handa Vic Open.
And Law attributes his ‘lockdown’ work with coach, Alan McCloskey as helpful.
Law said: “I’ve been working with Alan on a couple of things…we needed to change some things and never really had the time to do it.
“My set-up was one of the earlier things we did early on in the lockdown, and I had a set-up at home to do stuff there before the courses opened again.
“The difference has been gaining like 10 yards through the air, in ball flight.”
7 birdies in 8 holes 🔥@DavidLawGolf is our round 1 leader.#BetfredBritishMasters #GolfForGood
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) July 22, 2020
Hill, 25 was in Phoenix, Arizona with his U.S. girlfriend when the worldwide lock-down begun and a region he’s familiar having attended the Western New Mexico University some 320-miles to the east.
Knowing there was no golf back home, he entered two events on the Outlaw Tour, a mini Tour that runs from September to August, and this year featuring some 30 events with all but one in Arizona.
Both events were in March with Hill finishing T16th in the Western Skies Classic and two weeks later he created Outlaw Tour history becoming the first Scottish-born winner in capturing the Verrado Founders Championship in aptly-named Buckeye just to west of Phoenix.
There’s no mention of Hill’s win on the European Tour website nor his Wikipedia personal page but Hill hopes to change that this week.
He said: “At the start of season I wasn’t in great shape so the break was timely for me to put a lot of work in.
“I played two events over in Phoenix, and it was great to win the second, but there was a lot of changes for me just to get going in a consistent direction.
“My game wasn’t good as it would just fall apart and I wouldn’t know how to fix it.
“Whereas now I have an idea of what goes on in my swing and what my tendencies are, and how to quickly correct it if they’re a little off from day to day. It’s worked out well for me.
“It was more solid today, not too bad, had a wee bit of a block going but I’d been hitting it left the last few days and it’s far better to be hitting right than left but overall played solid and putted decent, so it’s good.”
Tournament host Lee Westwood signed for a 70.
