Fox and Olesen lead at Betfred British Masters

Ryan Fox and Thorbjørn Olesen carded six under par rounds of 66 at The Belfry to share the first round lead at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett.

Olesen, who represented Team Europe at the 2018 Ryder Cup, set the clubhouse target after a blemish-free round on the Brabazon Course with Fox, who won his second DP World Tour title at February’s Ras al Khaimah Classic, matching him late in the day to join him at the top of the leaderboard.
“I hit it really solid, maybe one tee shot on the second which looked a little dicey but hit a lot of wedge shots close and took advantage on a couple of the hard holes on 12 and 18. Holed a couple of 40-footers which is always nice to keep the round going," said Fox.
“Obviously a good start with birdie on ten, my first hole. Thought I played really well," said Olesen,
"Thought I've had some good rounds this year and just haven't finished it off. It was really nice to get that up-and-down on the last and have that momentum and not make a bogey today. I was really pleased with that."
The pair sit one stroke ahead of Germany’s Hurly Long, Scotsman Richie Ramsay and Ashun Wu of China, who each carded five under par rounds of 67.

Rasmus Højgaard, who won the ISPS HANDA UK Championship at The Belfry in 2020, is one stroke further back alongside Italy’s Edoardo Molinari and South African duo Brandon Stone and Justin Walters.
Tournament host Danny Willett carded a one-over-par round of 73, but raised £4,000 for the tournament’s Official Charity Prostate Cancer UK. Title sponsors Betfred have pledged to donate £1,000 for every birdie and £2,000 for every eagle made by the 2016 Masters Tournament champion, with Willett carding four birdies on day one.