25th BMW International Open: Ernie Els shines on day one of the anniversary tournament.

Munich. The waiting is over –it is now time for the pros at the 25th BMW International Open to let their clubs do the talking. Ernie Els (South Africa) was the man of the opening day, which saw a crowd of 12,500 descend upon Golfclub München Eichenried to watch the 25th staging of the only European Tour event in Germany. Starting from the tenth tee, the reigning Open Champion opened his campaign with five birdies on the back nine, adding a further two birdies and an eagle on his way back to the clubhouse. The 43-year-old leads with a score of -9 going into Thursday’s second round. Hot on Els’ heels on Thursday were Matthew Baldwin (England), Alex Noren (Sweden), Robert-Jan Derksen (Netherlands) and BMW Brand Ambassador Martin Kaymer (Germany), who all carded rounds of 64 (-8). Major-winner Kaymer shot nine birdies – six of them coming on the back nine – and dropped just one shot on the 7th. An eagle on the final hole would have seen him draw level with leader Els, but the ball stopped just a few centimetres short of the hole. As such, he starts day two tied in second place.

“It’s nice to be in the hunt from the start. That takes the pressure off the rest of the tournament a little bit,” said Els after his round. “My long putt for birdie from about 40 feet on my second hole was particularly nice. But, generally speaking, it was a nice start. It was a pleasure to play here today. Nothing like the US Open, where we went through the torture chamber.”

Kaymer was also happy with the start he made to the 25th BMW International Open. “That was a good round. I am almost a bit surprised,” said the 2008 winner. “I did not hit the ball that well at all on the range yesterday. But it worked well today. The key was that I was able to take advantage of some of the many opportunities this course provides. It is definitely a special feeling to play in front of your home crowd. It really gives you a boost when you feel the support of the fans.”

In temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius, many of the pros took full advantage of the perfect conditions to shoot low scores. Among them was Bernd Wiesberger (Austria), who is now supported by BMW Austria and shot a round of 66 (-6). Local favourite Marcel Siem (Germany) finished on five under par. “I am not really satisfied,” said the 32-year-old. “You can see from the scores that the course was playing relatively easy today. My bogey on the 8th hurt me, as -6 would have been fine. I put myself under a lot of pressure today. With this in mind, -5 is okay.”

Maximilian Kieffer (Germany) was among a group of pros five shots off the lead on -4, which included Germans Christoph Günther and Bernd Ritthammer, as well as two-time winner Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Miguel Ángel Jiménez (Spain) and BMW PGA Championship winner Matteo Manassero (Italy). For BMW Golfsport Ambassador Kieffer, who won both the “TEE Time” opening event in the English Garden and Wednesday’s Pro-Am, anything is still possible from 28th place: “It is really nice to play in front of the German fans. It is a very special atmosphere. I could really have done better today, but my concentration suffered a bit in the heat. In those conditions, it was an advantage to play in the morning. You could tell on the last few greens that they were becoming a little bumpy. Despite this, the course is still in a sensational condition.”

Admission to the course is free on Friday and fans can once again look forward to top-class golf from 07:30. Overnight leader Els starts from the first tee at 13:30, alongside Siem and Manassero. Kaymer and flight partners Dustin Johnson (USA, -6) and Henrik Stenson (Sweden, -4) tee off at 08:20.