European Tour: Richard Bland ahead at Cazoo Classic as Jordan Smith, Dale Whitnell impress

Richard Bland made an impressive return to competitive action as he raced into the lead after the opening round of the European Tour’s Cazoo Classic.

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The British Masters champion, making his first start since The Open last month at Royal St George’s, posted seven birdies on his way to a bogey-free 65 at the London Club to set a clubhouse target that was not matched.

Jordan Smith sits a shot behind in tied-second alongside compatriot Dale Whitnell and American Sihwan Kim, with Lucas Bjerregaard among those two strokes back in tied-fifth after an opening-round 67.

“Pretty much all of it was good today, I just felt like it was a continuation from where I left off before my break,” Bland said. “I was driving the ball great, hitting some nice iron shots in and I didn’t really hole that much to be honest.

“To be fair, I probably had three or four that looked like they were going to go in and touched the edge but didn’t go in. I felt like that score was the worst it was going to be, which is very nice feeling after three weeks away.”

Starting on the back nine, Bland rolled in a 10-footer at the 10th for the first of three consecutive birdies and made another from tap-in range at the 15th, before holing from eight feet at the 18th to save par and reach the turn in 32.

Bland made an eight-footer at the second and converted from a similar distance at the par-five fifth, with the Englishman then picking up another birdie on his penultimate hole and closing out a blemish-free card.

Smith made back-to-back birdies from the fourth and added another from eight feet at the ninth, with a birdie at the 12th followed by a two-putt gain at the 15th after missing a 12-foot eagle try.

A 35-foot birdie at the 17th lifted him within one of the lead alongside Whitnell – who carded four birdies in a five-hole stretch on his back nine – and Kim, who birdied three of his last five holes to also get to six under.

Ryder Cup hopefuls Bernd Wiesberger and Victor Perez carded rounds of 68 and 70 respectively, while Andy Sullivan – the highest-ranked Englishman in action – struggled to a two-over 74.

Watch the Cazoo Classic throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues Friday from 12.30pm on Sky Sports Golf.

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