Former Morrisons delivery driver Joe Dean carded a “stress-free” 65 to share the lead after the first round of the FedEx Open de France.
Despite not playing the daunting back nine at Le Golf National in practice, Dean covered it in two under par and carded an eagle and two more birdies on the front nine to finish six under par.
The Englishman was working as a delivery driver for supermarket chain Morrisons in February before finishing second in the Magical Kenya Open. Since then he has recorded four other top-five finishes, including losing out in a three-man play-off at the KLM Open.
Dean’s total was matched by Sweden’s Jesper Svensson and Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen, with home favourite Adrien Saddier missing from two feet for birdie on the 18th in fading light to make it a four-way tie.
“Good, stress-free golf,” 30-year-old Dean said of his opening round in Paris.
“Tried keeping it in the fairways. The rough is quite juicy out there so fairway golf is pretty key.
“Seeing how much rain it’s had over the last 24 hours, to be playing is an astonishment in itself. The greens are really good. Arguably I’d say some of the best we’ve played this year, and after all the rain, as well, it’s fantastic.”
Ukrainian teenager Lev Grinberg was part of a five-way tie for fourth place on five under, with former world No 1 Justin Rose another stroke back following a 67.
Grinberg, who was just 14 when he made the halfway cut in the 2022 Soudal Open, was equally surprised with the condition of the course after describing the 16th green as a “pond” on Wednesday evening.
“I was half-awake all night thinking there’s no way we’re getting out (to play) because I live here on site,” said the 16-year-old, who is based at the French Golf Federation’s Performance Centre.
“I went making some videos at 7pm on 16, and it was just a pond. It’s amazing how they did it.”
Speaking about his round, Grinberg added: “It’s definitely some experience. I’ve worked really hard and I really had fun today. I stuck to my game plan. I had a very good mindset a couple of weeks before and a couple of days before going into this event.
“Playing on an Olympic golf course, playing any DP World Tour venues, it’s great. I’m very fortunate. I had a very nice group. The guys supported me and it was a pretty good day today.”
World No 17 Billy Horschel, who defeated Rory McIlroy in a play-off to win the BMW PGA Championship for the second time last month, could only return a one-over-par 72.
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