| -6 M Schwab (Aut); -5 C Hill (Sco); -4 G Migliozzi (Ita), L De Jager (SA), B Wiesberger (Aut), R Bland (Eng), C Sordet (Fra), M Pavon (Fra), J Morrison (Eng), J Suri (US), M Schmitt (Ger) |
| Selected others: -3 D Willett (Eng), A Sullivan (Eng), C Wood (Eng), R Fisher (Eng), R Mansell (Eng); -2 E Pepperill (Eng), R Ramsay (Sco), G Porteous (Eng), L Canter (Eng), C Paisley (Eng), D Whitnell; -1 D Coupland (Eng), J Smith (Eng), A Johnston (Eng), R MacIntyre (Sco), S Brown (Eng), T Tree (Eng) |
| Full leaderboard |
Matthias Schwab leads Scotland’s Calum Hill by a shot after round one of the British Masters at The Belfry.
Austrian Schwab, 26, carded seven birdies and a bogey in a six-under-par round of 66 on Wednesday.
Hill, seeking a first European Tour title, is a shot ahead of nine players on four-under – including English pair James Morrison and Richard Bland.
Taking place without spectators, the tournament is the first European Tour event to be held in Britain in 2021.
Host and 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett is tied 12th on three under after his opening round of 69, along with compatriots Ross Fisher, Richard Mansell, Andy Sullivan and Chris Wood.
Laurie Canter, Chris Paisley, Dale Whitnell, Eddie Pepperell, Garrick Porteous and Scotland’s Richie Ramsay are a shot further back at two-under.
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, the highest ranked player present at 45 in the world, is five shots off the lead after shooting two birdies and one bogey.
The tournament in Sutton Coldfield – being played without spectators despite applying to be a test event – marks the start of the phase of the season when double Ryder Cup qualifying points can be earned.
