Richard Bland Brings Form to Denmark, Shares Early Lead at Made in HimmerLand

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Richard Bland
Richard Bland tees off on the 12th hole during the first round of the Made in HimmerLand at Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort on May 27, 2021 in Aalborg, Denmark. (Photo by Andrew Redington via Getty Images)

Fresh off his maiden European Tour victory at the British Masters, Richard Bland sits atop the leaderboard after day one of the Made In HimmerLand.

The 48-year old Englishman, who became the tour’s oldest first-timer, opened with a 5-under 66 in Denmark to share the 18-hole marquee spot.

Bland’s round was highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 8th to go along with four birdies and a bogey. He was joined by defending champion Bernd Wiesberger, Korean Yikeun Chang, Spaniard Pablo Larrazábal and Finn Lauri Ruuska.

“I was just happy to get back out playing to be honest,” said Bland. “I hadn’t really done a lot last week, I played once with some friends and did a little bit of practice.

“I was coming in a little bit unprepared, but sometimes that’s not always a bad thing. I just tried to carry on where I left off and managed to do that.”

Wiesberger, meanwhile, made some early noise with a four-hole stretch of birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle on Nos. 4-8, but bogeys on 9 and 13 dropped him into the chasing pack. The 35-year old Austrian, though, closed with back-to-back gains, including a 30 footer on the finale.

One off the pace was Wiesberger’s countryman Matthias Schwab, who was among a group of four at T6 on 4-under par 67. The others were England’s Laurie Canter, Aussie Dimitrios Papadatos, and Jonathan Caldwell of Northern Ireland.

2021 Made In HimmerLand

Top-5 Leaders: Round 1
Pos-Player-To Par-(Rd 1)
1. Richard Bland -5 (66)
1. Bernd Wiesberger -5 (66)
1. Yikeun Chang -5 (66)
1. Pablo Larrazabal -5 (66)
1. Lauri Ruuska -5 (66)


Material from the European Tour Communications was used to compile this report.


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