Ewen Ferguson lets clubs do talking in strong start in Open de France

Ewen Ferguson banned himself from moaning before producing a strong start along with fellow Scot David Law in the Cazoo Open de France.

Ewen Ferguson pictured with caddie Stephen Neilson during day one of the Cazoo Open de France at Le Golf National. Picture: Luke Walker/Getty Images.

The duo carded matching five-under-par 66s at Le Golf National, venue for the 2018 Ryder Cup, to sit handily-placed after the opening circuit.

On a day when Korean Tom Kim underlined his star billing by setting the pace with a 64, Ferguson made his score with an eagle and four birdies on his back nine at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines venue.

“I said to my caddie [Stephen Neilson] before I went out, ‘I need to keep my mouth shut today’ because if you start moaning, you never stop,” said Ferguson afterwards “It was that bad this morning and I know what I’m like so I just tried my best to zip it and grind it out as much as I could.

“I bogeyed 18 to get back to level, but I was actually alright with that because it’s a tough hole and a lot of other people were making bogeys. I missed a couple of chances on one and two, my tenth and 11th, almost threw a strop but chipped in on the third for eagle from the left side on the green which was nice and gave me a little pep in my step that I needed and really picked me up.”

The two-time DP World Tour winner added: “I love this course. Me and Richard Mansell had dinner last night and I saw he played well today and we were actually saying it’s in the top three courses on Tour.

“It’s a really tough test and you need to hit fairways and green which I’m usually quite good at, which is shown in my score today.”

Ferguson’s year started with an appearance in the Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi in January and he admitted: “I’m feeling tired towards the end of the year actually. It’s been a long year, lots of tournaments.

“But you get energy from good results, so I’m trying to get some good scores and hit some good shots to get myself that little bit of energy and make myself feel good again.”

Law, who needs one big finish between now and the end of the season to keep hold of his DP World Tour card, signed for seven birdies, five of which came on the easier front nine.

Maintaining his good form after recording four successive top-ten finishes, Connor Syme also started promisingly with a 67, which was matched by Marc Warren.

Bob MacIntyre, the only member of Europe’s Ryder Cup team in the field, was three under after eight holes before having to settle for a par-71.