Scott Jamieson took full advantage of being able to strip off a few layers in posting a sizzling 64 in ideal conditions on the opening day of the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open.
Jamieson didn’t drop a shot with six birdies to be among a group of six sharing fifth place and only one shot off the lead on the sun-splashed Meloneras course laid-out along the Atlantic Ocean holiday island.
The four leading include Dutchman Joost Luiten, Dane Joachim B Hansen, Frenchman Robin Rousell and Germany’s Max Kieffer, who just four days ago lost a five-hole play-off at the Austrian Open.
Scott Jamieson posts a four-under 66 on day one of the Gran Canaria
And in an indication of the scoring, just over 20 players in the 151-player field were overpar on day one.
It’s been 26-years since a main Tour event has been held on Gran Canaria and that being in 1995 when the late Seve Ballesteros was joint runner-up to Swede Jarmo Sandelin.
In the crowd that year was a then 12-year- old Rafa Cabrera-Bello and who, along with his younger brother and sister, had their photograph taken with Seve.
Cabrera-Bello is the tournament host this week and posted a five-under 65 to be among a group of 11 just two shots from the front.
The Florida-based Jamieson arrived along with many of his colleagues who last week had to wrap-up under four to five layers and were wearing woollen caps and gloves to combat the bitterly cold Austrian Open conditions on the outskirts of Vienna.
Jamieson said: “We all just had so many clothes on last week so it’s now good to be here in much warmer weather this week and to be able to feel like you can move and swing more freely.
“I’ve never been that cold on a golf course before as last week.
“I guess I’ve gone soft now I live in America. Last week in the cold, I struggled to turn. One of my tendencies is to move my arms too much and not my body, so when you have to wear more clothes, as was the case last week in Austria, and it’s also that cold it’ll encourage you to turn less – so it’s not for me.”
Jamieson grabbed his haul of six birdies within a 13-hole run from his fifth to 17th holes in what is a 282nd Tour event.
Jamieson said: “I was a little slow out the gates. I feel like scores are going to be pretty low this week.
“I starting on the tenth you can almost knock it on the green. I actually felt like I was a little behind the eight ball early on, not birdieing the first par five either.
“I then managed to sneak a couple before the turn and on the back nine I hit some nice wedge shots which made life a little easier – I wasn’t able to do that on the front nine. That was the key to my back nine.”
Fellow Scots Calum Hill, David Drysdale, Richie Ramsay and Grant Forrest posted scores of two-under par 69s.
