The Scotsman Ewen Ferguson, with a magnificent round of 61 shots (nine under par), concluded with an ‘eagle’, is the first leader of the ISPS Handa World Invitational, of the DP Word Tour, which began this Friday at the Galgorm club Castle of Co Antrim (Northern Ireland, United Kingdom).
Ewen Ferguson, results
Ewen Fergurson, 26 years old, 211 in the world, and already winner this 2022 of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, his first trophy as a professional, is four strokes ahead of the duo formed by the Spanish Borja Virto and the English Richard Bland, who each signed 65 .
The Scotsman, who sets the course record, had no faults and made two eagles -the last on the 18th- and five birdies. It is the second time he has hit 61 in the last three weeks. Good first card for Virto from Navarra, with five birdies (holes 4, 7, 9, 14, 16).
Santiago Ben Tarrió and Sebastián García also had a good day, completing their respective tours in 66 shots; the first with six birdies and two bogeys and the second with five birdies and one bogey. Richard Bland (Burton upon Trent, February 3, 1973) is a professional golfer from England.
Bland married Caroline in 2005, they live in Southampton. Richard Bland turned pro in 1996, and has since played alternately on the Challenge Tour (CT) and the European Tour (ET). In 2001, 2004 and 2008 he finished in the top-15 of the Challenge Tour and thus played a full season on the European Tour in 2002, 2005 and 2009.
In 2002 he loses his card again, but in 2005 he gets his card for 2006. In 2009 he finished 4th at the Austrian Open, which earned him €50,000. The European Tour was created by the Professional Golfers’ Association, based in England, and responsibility for its management was transferred to the independent organization PGA European Tour in 1984.
Most of the tournaments on the three European Tour tours are takes place in Europe, but in recent years an increasing number of tournaments have also been organized in other parts of the world. The PGA European Tour is a player-controlled organization whose main purpose is to maximize the financial income of professional players participating in tournaments.
It is a limited liability company run by professionals, but controlled by the players through a council composed of 12 members elected from past and present players, and a committee that oversees the tournaments of 14 active players.
Since 2007 the chairman of the board has been Neil Coles, while the chairman of the committee is Thomas Bjørn. Almost all tournaments are played in Western Europe and the most lucrative of these are those played in the UK, Ireland, Germany, France and Spain.
Only one tournament is held in Eastern Europe beyond the old Iron Curtain, the Russian Open. The PGA European Tour also organizes the Ryder Cup in collaboration with the PGA of America.
