Paul Dunne put together another good opening round – something of a theme this season – to sit just three shots off the lead after the opening round of the Made in Denmark tournament at Himmerland Resort.
The Greystones man carded seven birdies, including four-in-a-row from the 14th to the 17th, to sign for a round of 67 and sit at four under par in a tie for 17th.
Australia's Wade Ormsby leads the way at seven under alongside English duo Steve Webster and Matt Wallace.
Dunne finished tied-10th at this event last year with the €33,360 prize money proving to be a big boost in his late surge to retain his European Tour card.
This year the 24-year-old has no such late season worries having already amassed €676,992 in prize money to sit 34th in the current Race to Dubai rankings, allowing him to focus on getting over the line for a maiden win – something he has come close to on a number of occasions this year, most notably when losing in a playoff at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco.
Perhaps this could be the week and he’s certainly in contention in Farso.
After a bogey at the first, Dunne rattled off three birdies in five holes from the third to the seventh. Bogeys at the ninth and the 12th threatened to derail a good round by setting him back to level par but the late surge of four birdies in a row put paid to that notion and ensured that the Greystones man goes into day two nicely placed.
At the top of the leaderboard there were 64s for Ormsby, Wallace and Webster on a good day for scoring at Himmerland.
Home favourite Thomas Bjorn, who received a rapturous reception from fans wearing masks with his face on to mark his 500th European Tour event, began the tournament with a 73.
Zander Lombard and Edoardo Molinari both made aces at the 86-yard 16th hole to bring the total number of holes-in-one on the European Tour to 998.
