Johnston goes low at Portugal Masters

Liam Johnston produced the lowest round of his European Tour career at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, firing a sparkling round of 61 to lead by one shot at the end of the opening day of the 2020 Portugal Masters.

At nine under par through 16 holes the Scot was in contention to match the historic 59 Oliver Fisher shot here two years ago. He narrowly cleared the water with his approach into the par five 17th but could not hole his eagle putt from range. A par on the last took the two-time European Challenge Tour winner to ten under par, one shot ahead of Frenchman Julien Guerrier.
England's Laurie Canter is at seven-under-par after a round of 64, as all of the leading three players went bogey-free in Vilamoura. Northern Ireland's Jonathan Caldwell is at six under par, one shot ahead of South African George Coetzee, England’s Matthew Jordan, Dane Thorbjørn Olesen and Sebastian Soderberg of Sweden.

A group of 12 players are then at four under par, with World Number 16 Tommy Fleetwood and the highest-placed Portuguese player Tomás Bessa amongst a further eight players at three-under-par.

Meanwhile, India’s Shubhankar Sharma recorded the first albatross on the 2020 Race to Dubai, holing out from 241 yards with his second shot on the 588 yard par 17th hole.