By Press Association
Shane Lowry has said his level-par opening round, leaving him seven shots off the leaders, wasn’t the ideal start to the Turkish Airlines Open.
The Open champion is just one shot off current Race to Dubai leader Bernd Wiesberger, with Lowry currently third in the Race to Dubai standings.
The tournament is being played on the Colin Montgomerie-designed Montgomerie Maxx Royal, and Lowry was critical of the greens speaking after his round.
“I played lovely all day, I can’t play any better than that but I literally couldn’t get the ball in the hole from three feet,” Lowry said.
When pressed on conditions, Lowry remarked: “No, the greens are not great to be honest. I’m not going to stand here and give out too much about it. Being last off wasn’t a great draw today.”
Meanwhile, Padraig Harrington shot a disappointing 75 to leave him on three-over after day one of the competition. Harrington made ten on the par 5 fourth hole after finding the water three times, but recovered well with three birdies from the last four holes and sits in a tie for 71st place.
Tom Lewis and Matthias Schwab are joint leaders on 7-under, with Justin Rose just one shot off the pace.