8am Round-Up: Dylan Frittelli storms into lead in China

David Drysdale was right on the cut mark after rounds of 71 and 73 in the Volvo China Open. Picture: Getty Images

Continuing his good recent form, Frittelli fired a 63 at Topwin Golf and Country Club in Beijing to sit on 11-under-par.

He held a three-shot lead in the clubhouse over compatriot George Coetzee (69), with first-round pacesetter Alexander Levy out in the afternoon wave.

Frittelli, a Challenge Tour graduate missed three of his first four cuts this season but has finished in the top 30 in the last five outings.

He tied for fifth in last week’s Shenzhen International and signed for an eagle and seven birdies in a flawless second round on this occasion.

Drysdale was sitting right on the projected cut after rounds of 71 and 73 for level-par total. His second round included back-to-back bogeys at the 13th and 14th.

Richie Ramsay and Stephen Gallacher, who’d matched Drysdale’s 71 on Thursday, were among the later starters in the second round.

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Ryder Cup team-mates Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson found themselves six shots off the lead after the first round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans - the first official team event on the PGA Tour since 1981.

Rose was back in action for the first time since agonisingly missing out on his second major title at the Masters earlier this month, when he saw a two-shot lead whittled away late on before losing to Spain’s Sergio Garcia in a dramatic play-off.

The 36-year-old Englishman and playing partner Stenson enjoyed a good start to the opening foursomes at TPC Louisiana.

After starting on the back nine, they picked up birdies on the 12th - when Rose chipped in from off the green - and 13th.

However, four bogeys in the following eight holes - two of which were par fives - plummeted the star duo to two over.

They recovered to pick up birdies on the fifth and eighth, but they nevertheless had to settle for a level-par round of 72 and a share of 44th place after day one of the two-man competition.

That was well adrift of top spot, which was jointly held by the pairings of Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer, and Kyle Stanley and 18-year-old Ryan Ruffels, after both recorded six-under-par 66s.

South Korean duo KJ Choi and Charlie Wi are among four teams on five under while Russell Knox and Kevin Streelman are tied for 52nd on one-over.

The 80 teams play foursomes in the first and third rounds and fourballs in rounds two and four, with the top 35 teams surviving the halfway cut.

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Catriona Matthew is on course to comfortably make the cut in the LPGA’s Volunteers of America Shootout in Irving, Texas.

It follows the North Berwick woman opening with a one-under-par 70 to sit in joint-32nd alongside world No 1 Lydia Ko after her first outing with a new caddie.

As Korean Mi Jung Hur set the pace with a six-under-par 65, Lexi Thompson shot two-under in her first round since losing the ANA Inspiration after being hit with a four-shot penalty.

English star Charley Hull opened with a 71 while Edinburgh-based American Beth Allen had a 75.

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Jimmy Gunn is sitting joint-48th after opening with a one-under-par 71 in the Web.com Tour’s El Bosque Mexico Championship.

The effort left him six shots off the lead, held by three players - Colombian Sebastian Munoz and American duo Robb Oppenheim and Sepp Straka.

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Irish pro Gareth Maybin has announced his retirement from competitive golf at the age of 36.

Maybin has been struggling with a wrist injury in recent years and withdrew from the Johannesburg Open in February.

He lost his European Tour Card at the end of 2014 and has admitted in a statement that he has found the last few years “challenging”.

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Royal Troon’s Paul Moultrie leads the Scottish Senior Golfing Society’s spring meeting after opening with a level-par 71 at Monifieth Links.