Romain Langasque equals Old Course record as French dominate Dunhill Links

The remnants of Hurricane Ian could wreak havoc on the second day of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship but, in the calm before the storm, ‘Allez Les Bleus!’ was the toast in the hostelries in and around St Andrews.

With Romain Langasque taking pride of place after equalling the Old Course record with an 11-under-par 61, a trio of Frenchman top the leaderboard in the $5 million pro-am after it got underway in warm sunshine and a gentle wind.

Freddie Lacroix, with a 10-under 62 at Kingsbarns, and Antoine Rozner, who signed for a 63 at St Andrews, joined Langasque in taking advantage of the benign conditions, as did Dane Niklas Norgaard Moller as he matched Rozner’s nine-under effort but at Kingsbarns.

With Belgian Thomas Pieters leading the way at Carnoustie, it was a low-scoring day across the board, but that is unlikely to be repeated in the second round, when it looks as though it will be a case of battening down the hatches at all three courses.

Romain Langasque gestures on the ninth hole on day one of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the Old Course at St Andrews. Picture: Oisin Keniry/Getty Images.

As Hurricane Ian sweeps over the Atlantic after leaving its mark on Florida but also other east coast states in the US, a combination of heavy rain and wind gusting to close to 50mph will make it a different challenge altogether.

Due to the forecast, tournament organisers have decided to implement a shotgun start at 8.30am at all the venues, which is a sensible move but, even then, might not be enough to keep it on track.

Langasque is heading to Carnoustie, where he won the Amateur Championship in 2015, for his second circuit and, no matter the weather conditions, the 27-year-old will bounce on to the Angus course with a spring in his step.

In last week’s Cazoo Open de France, he ran up a quadruple-bogey 8 at the 18th at Le Golf National as he opened with a 79 and, unable to repair that damage the following day, subsequently missed the cut on home soil.

Frederic Lacroix reacts after holing a birdie on the 18th hole at Kingsbarns Golf Links. Picture: Jan Kruger/Getty Images.

Starting at the tenth at St Andrews, Langasque had to hole from five feet to avoid an opening bogey before going long left at the par-3 11th and dropping a shot there, but from then on he made the game look easy.

He went on to make two eagles - holing from 52 feet at the 12th and 41 feet at the fifth - and eight birdies, covering his final six holes in seven-under and covering the front nine in just 28 shots.

The sparkling effort matched Ross Fisher’s score in the closing circuit in this event in 2017 and, even allowing for the fact the pin positions this week are a lot more accessible than for th 150th Open in July, it was a day to savour.

“I have the course record here now and I think it's something I will remember for the rest of my life,” admitted Langasque, who landed his maiden DP World Tour win in the 2020 ISPS Handa Wales Open but currently sits 272nd in the Official World Golf Ranking.

“I said to my caddie, ‘I didn't feel that I shot a (really low) number today’. The game was great but I didn't feel I shot 11-under. But the end was amazing. I holed a few long putts. Yeah, I'm really happy. But it's only the first round, so I'm also going to stay really focused for the next few days.”

Lacroix, who sits 16 spots below Langasque in the global standings and is fighting to hand on to his main tour card, also signed for two eagles as he opened with a bogey-free effort at Kingsbarns. The 27-year-old hit a 3-iron to around 12 feet at the ninth then rolled in a right-to-left downhiller from around double that distance at the 16th.

“It's always nice to go low,” said Lacroix of his fast start in an event won by another Frenchman, Broughty Ferry-based Victor Perez, in 2019. “Victor showed us it's possible,” he declared. “If we can follow in his footsteps, I'll try to do that.”

Rozner, a two-time DP World Tour winner, carded nine birdies as he also opened with a polished performance. “It's funny because before today I had never shot under par here,” he reported with a smile. “I told my caddie at the start, ‘let's try to do something’, and, in the end, the score, nine-under, really, really happy.”

He’s staying with Langasque this week and joked: “I'm going to have to say something that I wasn't expecting to be two behind after shooting nine-under. Frederic as well. We are from the same course at home. Very pleased for everyone, so let's try to keep it going.”

Moller, who sits outside the top 400 in the world rankings and is battling to retain his seat at the top table as well, carded an eagle and eight birdies as he also enjoyed a profitable day at Kingsbarns.

Pieters, meanwhile, covered the front nine at Carnoustie in 30 as he made his promising start as the toughest of the three courses, where Finn Tapio Pulkkanen fared next best on a day when it hosted the big guns with a 66.

“I putted really nicely today,” reported Pieters, who won in Abu Dhabi at the start of the year. “Last week (in France) I just didn't hole out from anywhere between eight to fifteen feet. Did a lot of work on that Tuesday, Wednesday and it paid off.”

He now heads to Kingsbarns and admitted of getting Carnoustie out of the way before the bad weather hits: “Yeah, I don't want to be beating balls in the wind here tomorrow.”