The first morning of the GANT Open gave home fans much to cheer as two Finns, Roope Kakko and Jonas Haglund, rose to the top of the leaderboard, both shooting five under par rounds of 66 to sit within one shot of the early lead, held by rising German star Dominic Foos.
Kakko is the headline draw at Aura GC in Turku following his maiden European Tour victory two weeks ago in the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal – BPI (video highlights below), and the local hero fired eight birdies, including six on the back nine, to make a fast start to his week.
The 33 year old, only the second Finn after Mikko Ilonen to win on The European Tour, credited a hot putter for his superb opening effort.
“I putted off the charts, I made everything today,” he said. “My playing partners were laughing at the end of the round about the putting display I’d put on!
“I didn’t play too well, I was driving it poorly at the beginning, but I got it going a bit better on the back nine and was able to score well.
“The course was perfect today, and I really like how it’s different to a lot of the modern courses where you can just slash at it with your driver and get away with it. Here you really have to think and position your golf ball well, so I really enjoy the challenge.
“It’s a perfect start, and it’s great to hear there’s another Finn up there alongside me, but I have to worry about my own stuff from now on, try to get four decent rounds in and see what happens.”
Haglund plies his trade on the Nordic League, which last year saw the European Challenge Tour’s Jacob Glennemo crowned rankings winner, but hopes to join Kakko on The European Tour in the future.
He said: “My goal is to get from the Nordic League to the Challenge Tour and then The European Tour, like everyone else dreams of too.
“I’ve only played one Challenge Tour event before so for me this is still a new experience, but I’m very happy with that start.
“I’ve played here quite a few times. We’ve had quite a few tournaments in Finland here and I normally play on the Nordic League, and this course holds one event every year.
“It’s been a mix for me in the past here, a couple of good tournaments and a couple of bad ones. You think this course is fairly easy to play because it’s not so long but it can be very difficult, and if you find the rough it can be very punishing.
“The greens are always tricky as well, so it’s very easy to underestimate this course, as I have a few times in the past – I’ve tried not to do that this time.
“I didn’t hit the ball very well this morning and I had some really bad shots but my putting was very good, I took my chances, and then when I was in trouble I made up and down, so that was very important to keep the momentum going – hopefully I can do the same tomorrow.”
