Thomas Detry came home in just 29 strokes as he carded a four under par round to take the lead after the first day at the Porsche European Open. The Belgian, searching for a maiden European Tour victory, made the turn one over par after a bogey on the 16th hole, his seventh. He then carded seven birdies and a double bogey on the front nine, making four gains in a row from the sixth hole to sign for a four under par total at Green Eagle Golf Courses. Sweden’s Alexander Björk, England’s Ashley Chesters, David Law of Scotland and China’s Ashun Wu share second place on three under par, while Marcel Schneider is the top-performing German on two under par as he sits in sixth place alongside five other golfers. Germany’s Bernd Ritthammer, runner-up at this event when it was last played in 2019, is one of ten golfers in a share of 12th place on one under. Player Quotes Thomas Detry: “I just made a couple more putts, but I played the same way. The golf course is really tough this week, it’s almost a U.S. Open set up. I played the front nine really steady, my first nine holes, didn’t really make anything and made a little mistake – a bogey – but on the back nine I got it going. Two early birdies, a double on one of the easiest holes, then I had a nice bounce back with a tap-in birdie and had another four birdies.” Ashun Wu: “I’m very happy to come back to play the Porsche European Open here. The course has changed a little bit, some holes. It’s a good design and good change. The golf course setup was perfect, it’s the best. I like playing here. “I was in the first group today with Min Woo (Lee), I’m happy to have played with him; four birdies, one bogey, it’s a good start. “I think the setup is more difficult than before. A lot of people are saying the same thing. If you find a fairway and find a green, you’ll have a good score.” David Law: “It’s probably the toughest course we play all year. It’s certainly up there. To start off three under par I’m really happy with. I wasn’t particularly fresh this morning, I travelled down from Denmark last night so to shoot that, I’m really happy. “Luckily I think (16) was up 40 yards today. To sneak away with a four... I actually didn’t play the last four holes, I played 14 holes yesterday and had enough, I was a bit tired. I was playing the last four holes blind. To play them in two under I’m really pleased.” Alexander Björk: “I think I’ve been playing quite solid over the last couple of months. Had a good week last week. Started off not too good today, I played quite bad on the first seven or eight holes, I made some important putts in the middle of the round and played well on the last nine holes. Being in good form, I managed to turn it round during the round today.”