Ace Propels Havret to Lead in European Masters


Grégory Havret fired a 7-under 63 to take a one-stroke lead in the European Masters. The European Tour event got underway Thursday at Crans Montana Golf Club in Switzerland.

The round by the 38-year-old Frenchman was highlighted by an ace on the par-3 13th hole. In addition, he eagled the drivable par-4 seventh and added four birdies and a bogey to forge a one-stroke lead over Denmark's Lasse Jensen.

Two behind is a big group that includes Englishmen Danny Willett, Seve Benson, Richard Bland and Tyrell Hatton, Thailand's Jass Janewattananond, Sweden's Pelle Edberg, Rikard Karlberg and amateur Marcus Kinhult, South Korea's Y.E. Yang and Seukhyun Baek, Australia's Richard Green and Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey.

Hoey also carded a hole-in-one, with his coming on the par-3 third.

"It's my second hole-in-one on the Tour, and there's a funny story about my first," Havret told the European Tour's website. "It was at the Seve Trophy in 2007, and Seve himself was on the tee. When the ball went in, he jumped into my arms and shouted 'You've won a car!'

"It was such a great moment, but then later that night he told me he'd made a mistake, and the car was only the prize on the final day," added the three-time winner, who won an Omega watch for his ace. "So that was a bit disappointing, but this beautiful prize definitely makes up for it.

"It's a little bit strange, for a few seconds you don't know what to do because you can't believe it. Then when you hear everybody shouting and cheering by the green, you know it's real and you start to go crazy yourself.

"After that happened, you couldn't take the smile from off my face, because I knew that whatever happened for the rest of the round, I would have a very nice prize waiting for me. So I was very happy, and I play my best golf when I'm happy."

As for his other eagle on the seventh, Havret added, "It is the most beautiful hole we play all season. It's a drivable par-4, so it's very tempting but there's out of bounds on the right and some bunkers on the left, so you need to hit a good drive and fortunately I managed to do that."

As for how his 63 bodes well for the rest of the tournament, he noted, "There's still a long way to go of course, but it's nice to be up in contention and I'm very happy with my start, so hopefully I can keep it going for the next three rounds now."

Americans David Lipsey and Patrick Reed shot 66 and 67, respectively. The 27-year-old Lipsey, a Los Angeles native, is the defending champion.

For all the scores, visit http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2015/tournamentid=2015056/leaderboard/index.html?showLeaderboard=Y#rkArotM612pJPEc9.97.