Wind and rain are no stranger to a man who grew up and honed his craft on the fairways of Portmarnock Golf Club, but nevertheless, shooting a bogey-free four-under in those conditions is never easy so it’s no surprise that Conor Purcell was quite pleased with himself after doing so in the opening round of the Swiss Challenge at Golf Saint Apollinaire, just outside Basel.
A fifth-placed finish at last week’s Italian Challenge saw the Black Desert NI Open winner climb back into the top 10 on the Road to Mallorca rankings and he’s on course for more upward movement thanks to his four birdies and zero bogeys on day one.
“Yeah, very pleased with that,” he said afterwards. “I knew it was going to be a tough day today. It didn’t really let up and the rain kind of got heavier as the day went on.
“I just dug in well and hit some good shots and it was nice to post a good score.
“At the start it was very windy and I think the first few holes were very tricky out there. I knew pars were going to be good all day.”
Starting on the back nine, Purcell took care of the first of the two par-5s on the inward loop, and parred the other eight holes to make the turn at -1.
A birdie on the par-4 sixth and bookend par-5 birdies on the front side combined for the four-under tally, but despite braving the storm better than anybody with the exception of England’s Ben Stow who also went bogey-free but made one additional birdie, he’ll feel a little unfortunate that the continued rain forced a tournament suspension as the greens became waterlogged.
It’s the second tournament in a row where he’s posted a bogey-free round which is always satisfying for a professional.
“I had one last week as well, so if I could keep making them a habit, it would be nice,” he smiled. “Yeah, just hit lots of good shots and anytime I was out of position, I managed to chip it close.”
Purcell was the only Irishman among the early starters, so Jonathan Caldwell, John Murphy and Gary Hurley had only just got their rounds underway when play was suspended, and Cormac Sharvin had yet to head to the first tee.