Tournament host Rafa Cabrera Bello is just two shots off the lead on his idyllic home island, among a congested day one leaderboard at the inaugural Gran Canaria Lopesan Open. Joachim B Hansen, Joost Luiten, Robin Roussel and Max Keiffer – who continued his hot streak in the Canary Islands sun after a second-place finish in Austria last week – recorded seven under par rounds of 63 to share a slender lead at Meloneras Golf by Lopesan. Spain’s Alejandro del Rey, Scott Jamieson of Scotland and American Julian Suri are amongst a group of seven players at six under par, while Ryder Cup star and Gran Canaria native Cabrera Bello’s five under par round of 65 was matched by a further 12 players. Hansen took the early lead after recording five birdies and an eagle, but the Dane’s score was quickly matched by Luiten in the next group. The Dutchman, also teeing off the tenth, lit up a rollercoaster front nine that included three birdies and two bogies with the fifth hole in one of his European Tour career on the 15th. Germany’s Kieffer got off to a fast start, getting to five under after six holes, with a double bogey on the eighth the only blemish on his scorecard. The trio were then joined at the top of the leaderboard by Frenchman Robin Roussel, who dropped a single shot on his opening hole in his round of 63. Player quotes Rafa Cabrera Bello: “I am very happy. I have been saying it all week that it is a pleasure to have the European Tour back in the Canaries and for someone that was born here, raised here, and I come as often as I can, I always tell everyone how nice it is here, so I am glad we get the opportunity to showcase it to the rest of the world. “I am missing a big crowd but I am feeling the support. Some of the holes close to the road had people cheering which was cool, so I want to give them a big thank you for coming out even though they are not here as normal, but they were able to see a little bit of golf.” Joachim B. Hansen: “It was perfect – just what I wanted to go out and do. A perfect start, I played well, kept the ball in play, hit a lot of greens and rolled some putts in. “(Low scores) especially in the morning, when there’s not a lot of wind. It picked up on the last four or five holes. It’s a bit weird because it was in a different direction than in practice rounds. I played lovely today, so I look forward to the next few days.” Joost Luiten: “(On the hole-in-one) It was a perfect number for me to hit a wedge. It’s tucked just over the bunker but you can use the slope, right to left, I pitched it on the slope with a bit of spin and it went in. It’s one of these bonus things that happens sometimes, it’s always nice to make a hole-in-one. “This is my fifth on Tour, and my seventh overall. You can never have enough, I always say. “Seven under is a good score. I played pretty good and gave myself quite a few chances and made some nice putts coming down the stretch. It’s a good start and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

New father Thorbjørn Olesen takes a one shot lead into the weekend at the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open after becoming the first of three players to shoot the course record on a low scoring day at Meloneras Golf by Lopesan. The Dane admitted he was not expecting to make such a hot start after shooting a nine under par round of 71, admitting he was short of practice following the birth of his son, Cooper, earlier this month. The 2018 Ryder Cup player carded seven birdies and an eagle to get to 14 under par and lead the way from Dutchman Wil Besseling and Wales' Rhys Enoch. German Maximilian Kieffer, Frenchman Robin Roussel and Austrian Matthias Schwab are one shot back at 12 under par. England's Sam Horsfield and Scotland's Connor Syme also share the course record after 61s of their own left them four and six shots back respectively, while tournament host and local star Rafa Cabrera Bello birdied four of his last five holes to get to eight under par and also sit six shots off the lead. The records continued to tumble in the beautiful surroundings of Gran Canaria where, at five under par, the cut mark was one short of the record set at the Canarias Open de España 18 years ago, but the shot total of 135 to make the weekend was the lowest in European Tour history. Player quotes Thorbjørn Olesen: “I feel great. I was definitely not expecting this. It was an amazing experience to have a son a few weeks ago. I didn’t have that much practice coming in here, only last week, so the expectations were pretty low. It was great fun to be out here yesterday and today and shooting such a good number. “Overall it was good. My putting was really good both days and that always helps. Beside that I was always in play, hit a lot of fairways over the two days. I wasn’t really expecting anything and I was just focusing on every shot and not really thinking about it too much. I think that helped. “The thought of 59 didn’t really come to mind, I didn’t even know what the par was to be honest. Yesterday afternoon I was just so much in the present and wasn’t thinking about my score too much. I think that helped.” Wil Besseling: “Feeling good. Enjoyed it. Two great rounds, sun is out, course is good, played well. Looking forward to the weekend. “I pushed my drive (on the 9th, his 18th), hit the cart path and into the water hazard which is no water, only rocks. Decided to play from there. Hit it, it went all the way right, into the rough on the first hole. I had 66 metres, flopped it to six feet and holed the putt. “The course is wide, there is not too much wind. This course is built for the wind, so if there is no wind, you are going to make birdies and that’s what happened. I think it’s really important to stay patient, see your chances, and when you’re not in position, just play a little more defence. Together with my caddie, we did a great job so far. That’s why we don’t have any bogey’s yet on the card and hopefully it stays like that.”

Garrick Higgo made the most of a fast start to record a seven under par round of 63 and take a two shot lead into the final round of the 2021 Gran Canaria Lopesan Open. The South African entered the day three shots off the lead, but after sinking three birdies and an eagle in his opening four holes at Meloneras Golf by Lopesan, he went on to shoot the lowest round of his European Tour career to get to 18 under par after three rounds. That took him two shots clear of Frenchman Matthieu Pavon, Scotland’s Connor Syme, and Austrian Matthias Schwab, who eagled the 17th to jump into contention. Higgo is playing just his 24th European Tour event this week but the 21-year-old has already secured his first victory - at last season's Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos - and recorded his first top ten of the 2021 Race to Dubai last week in Austria. England's Sam Horsfield and Dane Jeff Winther are three shots off the lead at 15 under par while Wu Ashun of China equalled the course record set yesterday by Syme, Horsfield and Thorbjørn Olesen with his nine under par round of 61 to sit among eight players at 14 under par. Player quotes Garrick Higgo: “It was an unbelievable start, but I wasn’t playing that well. It’s definitely a course where you can hit it off line. I putted well and my chipping has been great. I definitely scored very well. I didn’t play so well in terms of off the tee, but the start was unbelievable. A couple of times we were in some odd spots and I couldn’t believe where I hit it to. “The chip shot on ten was a tough one. I have been working hard on my short game – it hasn’t been my strong point for the last six months. It was a bit of a hit and hope, but I knew if I could get it up a little bit with some spin, I had a chance of leaving it within eight foot. It was definitely a nice touch. For sure it is one that you practice, especially around here with the tight grass. But it’s one that you don’t want to use too often. “I’ll take every hole as it comes (tomorrow). I will try to be aggressive if I can, but I’m just going to enjoy it. It’s a great spot to be in.” Connor Syme: “I’ve been playing very well to be honest, it was a bit of a surprise to start so slowly in the first round. I had a lot of in between yardages and with these firm greens you need to be stopping it pretty fast with a bit of spin. I didn’t feel as if I did too much different the next day when I shot such a good score. It was very low and nice to back it up with another low one. “More of the same hopefully (tomorrow). I said yesterday, eight under after two rounds was OK – from one extreme to another in terms of the scores – but the ball doesn’t know how many under you are on any given day. I’m sixteen under at the minute, obviously a good position, gives me a chance going into tomorrow depending on how the guys go this afternoon.”