With a boost in the prize money on offer at the Italian Open starting from this year, there was a top class field on hand for the start of action in Monza on Thursday.
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Nearly five hours of play were lost on the opening day of the EPGA event after heavy rain and lightning battered the Parco Reale di Monza course in the early hours of the morning.
Fellow Swede Robert Karlsson is tied for third place on five under with Spain’s Adrian Otaegui, with nine players including England’s Richard Bland sharing a tie for fifth place.
Yet the star performer of the day was Karlberg, who followed up six birdies with a solitary bogey on the eighth, his penultimate hole, before bouncing back in style.
Scot Richie Ramsay and Italian Andrea Pavan were among the best of the later starters at three under after eight and six holes respectively.
Karlberg fired a sparkling seven-under-par 64 at Golf Club Milano in Monza where nearly five hours of scheduled play was wiped out by torrential rain and the threat of lightning.
Rikard Karlberg said,”That was as good as it gets”. But today I did that very well, and in the end I shot seven under.
“You know when you get chances here and you have to keep it a bit cool and try to hit greens. Standing over the last shot on the ninth green, I just told myself, ‘I’m so exhausted but it’s just one more shot.’ Pleased to execute as good as I did”.
First-round play is scheduled to resume at 7.30 a.m. local (0530 GMT) on Friday when Willett and fellow Englishmen Matt Fitzpatrick and Andy Sullivan will hope to fine tune their preparations for the September 30-Oct.
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Still, for those who did get to complete their opening round as planned on Thursday, the heavy rain that led to the delay played to their advantage with ideal scoring conditions.
