Levy leads BMW Masters in first round

French golfer achieves seven-under-par 65 at European Tour event

SHANGHAI: Frenchman Alexander Levy continued his love affair with China's golf courses by kicking off the European Tour's Final Series with a seven-under-par 65 to lead after the first round of the BMW Masters.

Levy, who won the Tour's China Open in April, fired seven birdies in a bogey-free round to lead by one at Lake Malaran ahead of Argentine Emiliano Grillo, Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium and another Frenchman, Romain Wattel.

Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell also went bogey free, firing a five-under 67 to sit in fifth at the first event of the European Tour's lucrative final four of the season which offer more than $30 million in combined prize money.

But they were all short of the 24-year-old Levy, who showed some hot form on a cool, damp morning in China.

"For me, this golf course is pretty much the same as Shenzhen,” said Levy. “I like this type of golf course with water and the target golf.”

 

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