Power starts well as Ireland share 20th behind runaway leaders Japan in Eisenhower Trophy
Tom Vaillant of France plays his tee shot at the first hole during the first round at the 2022 World Amateur Team Championship at Le Golf National in Paris, France on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. © USGA/Steven Gibbons
Kilkenny’s Mark Power shot a three-under 69 to help Ireland into a share of 20th after the opening round of the Men’s World Amateur Team Championship for the Eisenhower Trophy in Paris.
As Malone’s Matthew McClean a 73 at Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche as a 74 by Castle’s Robert Moran was discarded, the Irish trio are on two-under-par and 12 strokes behind Japan.
Taiga Semikawa fired a 63 and Kohei Okada a 65 to leave Japan six clear of Spain and seven ahead of Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland.
Semikawa leads the individual by three shots with Power tied 12th, McClean tied 70th and Moran joint 83rd.
“I know this is the world’s biggest stage, the biggest stage on the planet,” Semikawa said. “I am stunned. I really trust my teammates. I didn’t feel any stress today. I felt comfortable and is why I had such a low score.”
Austria, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the host nation France share third place, seven strokes behind Japan.
Playing in the afternoon at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche, 2022 Japan Amateur Champion Kohei Okada shot a 5-under 67 with six birdies and Taiga Semikawa, fueled by a 6-under front nine, had 10 birdies to pass the morning wave leaders.
Keita Nakajima, the two-time Mark H. McCormack medal winner as the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking®, shot a non-counting 72.
“We have two new boys, first time at this level, so I am extremely pleased with them,” said Japan’s Captain Gareth Jones. “They didn’t seem to show many nerves. They felt the freedom to play their own golf games. They didn’t have restrictions on them. They all drive the ball a long way and that’s an advantage at St. Nom.”
Also at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche, Spain’s David Puig shot a 6-under 66 and Josele Ballester added a 2-under 70.
“We know we are a strong team, but we started with two double bogeys on the second hole,” said Spanish Captain Carlos De Corral. “But after that we created a lot of birdie opportunities. David Puig was four under after eight holes and is playing confidently. We have the feeling we could have been better than 8 under.”
Germany’s Jonas Baumgartner, who plays at Oklahoma State University, notched nine birdies en route to a 6-under 65 and teammate Anton Albers shot 1-under 70 at Le Golf National.
“Today, my putter was really hot,” Baumgartner said. “I hit a lot of good shots that were pretty close, and I made a lot of putts, especially on the front nine. I was really comfortable on the greens, and they are rolling perfect. I had a good read on them and just kept going.”
France, vying to become the first host country to win since the USA at Pinehurst No. 2 in 1980, posted a 4-under 67 from Martin Couvra and a 3-under 68 from Julien Sale.
“We were under a lot of pressure today, the first day of the championship,” said French Captain Antoine Delon. “I am so, so happy and proud of my players. But it is going to be a long, long tournament. But we are so happy for the start.”
Austria used the combination of Christoph Bleier (68) and Maximilian Steinlechner (69) for their share of third. Bleier posted an eagle and six birdies in his round.
Italy, with Open Championship low amateur Philippo Celli shooting 67 and Marco Florioli shooting 68; Sweden, led by Tobias Johnsson’s 67 and Switzerland, led by Cedric Gugler’s 66, were the other teams in third.
The USA and England share ninth place. A pair of 3-under 68s by Austin Greaser and Michael Thorbjornsen accounted for the American score and England received the same scores from Sam Bairstow and John Gough.
“I think I was two missed clubs away from a really low one,” said Greaser. “Today, going out early, we had some good conditions, low winds, kind of softer on the greens and we were definitely able to fire at some of those flagsticks more than you typically would.” Greaser, who plays for the University of North Carolina, won the 2022 Western Amateur and was runner-up at the 2021 U.S. Amateur.
Quotable:
Taiga Semikawa, Japan: “I was aggressive, but I stayed with our plan from the practice rounds. I played well at the Japanese Collegiate Amateur before this. But on the back nine, the fans from France cheered for my birdies and that motivated me.”
Captain Ulrich Eckhardt, Germany: “Jonas putted brilliantly today. He holed a lot of long putts. It was a great round to watch. Fun.”
Captain Antoine Delon, France: “Every day is a new tournament. Today we have done a good tournament but tomorrow is going to be a new tournament on a new course, which is tricky. We have to be defensive.”
Christoph Bleier, Austria: “It was a really good day for me. I hit the ball well except for a couple of holes where I hit it into the trees, but I putted really well, which helped my score.”
Michael Thorbjornsen, USA: “Normally we are used to three-day events at amateur events and college events. Having that extra day helps. We are definitely not out of it. I feel like for all of us score wise, it was not too bad, but I feel like we can all play a lot better.”
Tom Vaillant, France: “It’s a great start. Playing under par on this course is great. I wanted to start well to show my teammates they can count on me, and they can do whatever they want. I tried to play the best I can and do my job like I do very week.”
Notable:
Japan’s 14-under 130 broke the record for low first-round score of 131 that was previously held by the USA in 2012.
Taiga Semikawa of Japan shot an outward nine of 6-under 30 and finished at 9-under 63, which ties Jason Dawes of Australia at Le Golf National in 1994 for the low individual round in the history of the Eisenhower Trophy.
In nearly ideal scoring conditions, 26 teams finished under par.
A total of 28 players from the 2018 WATC are playing in the 2022 Eisenhower Trophy. Cayman Islands has two players from 2018 and Qatar has the same three – Saleh Ali Al Kaabi, Jaham Al Kuwari and Ali Al Shahrni.
The last time the WATC was in France at Le Golf National and La Boulie in 1994 the USA team of Tiger Woods, Allen Doyle, Todd Demsey and John Harris won gold. Doyle, who won two U.S. Senior Open titles as well as one Senior PGA and one Senior Players for four PGA Tour Champions majors, was 46 years old when he was the low scorer in France at 277.
Puerto Rico’s captain Wilfredo Morales played in the 1994 Eisenhower Trophy.
Bermuda’s Jarryd Dillas is playing for the ninth time, most of any player in the field.
What’s Next:
Round 2 begins Thursday at 8 a.m. with a two-tee start on both courses.
Results from Wednesday's first round of the 2022 World Amateur Team Championships, played at par-71 Le Golf National (Albatross) and par-72 Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche (Red), in Paris, France.
GN = Le Golf National
SN = Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche
1 Japan 130 SN
Keita Nakajima 72
Kohei Okada 67
Taiga Semikawa 63
2 Spain 136 SN
Josele Ballester 70
Luis Masaveu 71
David Puig 66
T3 Austria 137 SN
Christoph Bleier 68
Fabian Lang 79
Maximilian Steinlechner 69
T3 France 135
Martin Couvra 67
Julien Sale 68
Tom Vaillant 69
T3 Germany 135
Anton Albers 70
Jonas Baumgartner 65
Laurenz Schiergen 75
T3 Italy 135
Pietro Bovari 68
Filippo Celli 67
Marco Florioli 68
T3 Sweden 137 SN
Ludvig Aberg 70
Tobias Jonsson 67
Adam Wallin 71
T3 Switzerland 137
Nicola Gerhardsen 77
Cedric Gugler 66
Maximilien Sturdza 71
T9 England 136
Sam Bairstow 68
Arron Edwards-Hill 72
John Gough 68
T9 United States of America 136
Austin Greaser 68
Gordon Sargent 70
Michael Thorbjornsen 68
T11 Australia 139 SN
Harrison Crowe 69
Hayden Hopewell 70
Connor McKinney 71
T11 Hong Kong, China 139
Leon Philip D'Souza 72
Taichi Kho 70
Alex Yang 69
13 Norway 138
Mats Ege 68
Michael Mjaaseth 70
Herman Wibe Sekne 70
T14 Argentina 141 SN
Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira 72
Juan MartÃn Loureiro 77
Segundo Oliva Pinto 69
T14 Canada 141 SN
A.J. Ewart 70
Garrett Rank 71
Johnny Travale 77
T14 Iceland 141
Hlynur Bergsson 69
Sigurdur Blumenstein 72
Hakon Magnusson 72
T14 Singapore 139
Ryan Ang 68
James Leow 76
Hiroshi Tai 71
T14 South Africa 139
Christo Lamprecht 72
Christiaan Maas 68
Aldrich Potgieter 71
T14 Wales 139
James Ashfield 76
Archie Davies 65
Luke Harries 74
T20 Finland 142
Elias Haavisto 68
Antti-Jussi Lintunen 75
Markus Luoma 74
T20 Ireland 142
Matthew McClean 73
Robert Moran 74
Mark Power 69
T20 Netherlands 142
Jack Ingham 70
Benjamin Reuter 74
Lars van der Vight 72
T20 Scotland 142
Callum Bruce 73
Rory Franssen 72
Calum Scott 70
T24 Czech Republic 143
Filip Jakubcik 70
Dominik Pavoucek 73
Jiri Zuska 74
T24 Denmark 141
Hamish Brown 71
Frederik Kjettrup 70
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen 75
T26 Chinese Taipei 145 SN
Chao-Hsin Hung 71
Sun-Yi Lu 77
Ching-Hung Su 74
T26 Ecuador 145
Ben Cohn 74
Nico Escobar 71
Philippe Thorin Andretta 76
T26 Lithuania 143
Giedrius Mackelis 70
Paulius Malcius 80
David Razinskas 73
T29 Belgium 144 GN
Matthis Besard 71
Adrien Dumont de Chassart 73
James Skeet 77
T29 Colombia 144
Carlos Ardila 71
Manuel Merizalde 73
Nicolas Quintero Macias 76
T29 New Zealand 144
James Hydes 76
Sam Jones 71
Kazuma Kobori 73
T29 People's Republic of China 144
Wenyi Ding 69
Tianyi Xiong 75
Ziqin Zhou 82
T33 Guatemala 145
Miguel Leal 76
Gabriel Palacios 69
Alejandro Villavicencio 79
T33 India 145
Raghav Chugh 73
Milind Soni 75
Rayhan Thomas 72
T33 Portugal 145 GN
Daniel Costa Rodrigues 73
Hugo Camelo 72
Pedro Cruz Silva 75
T36 Bulgaria 148 SN
Hristo Yanakiev 73
Kristian Tsvetanov 81
Lyubomir Tushev 75
T36 Chile 146 GN
Martin Leon 74
Lukas Roessler 73
Clemente Silva 73
T36 Estonia 146 GN
Mattias Varjun 74
Kevin Christopher Jegers 76
Markus Varjun 72
T36 Republic of Korea 146
Haecheon An 78
Minhyuk Song 72
HyunJoon Yoo 74
T36 Thailand 148
Arsit Areephun 76
Pongsapak Laopakdee 76
Ashita Piamkulvanich 72
T41 Brazil 147 GN
Homero de Toledo 80
Guilherme Grinberg 73
Andrey Xavier 74
T41 Luxembourg 149
Stefan Rojas 78
Charles Weis 71
T41 Puerto Rico 147
Jeronimo Esteve 73
Roberto Nieves 74
Diego Saavedra Davila 81
T41 Turkey 147 GN
Ali Berk Berker 72
Leon Açıkalın 75
Taner Yamaç 80
T45 Morocco 150
Mohamed Nizar Bourehim 75
El Mehdi Fakori 78
Hugo Mazen Trommetter 75
T45 Serbia 150 SN
Dane Cvetković 73
Nikola Ćuić 77
Marko Jokić 89
T45 Venezuela 150
Ignacio Arcaya 76
Virgilio Paz 82
Santiago Quintero 74
T48 Croatia 151 SN
Ivan VuÄemil 79
Lovro Horvat 72
Leo Zurovac 80
T48 Saudi Arabia 151
Abdulrahman Almansour 87
Saud AlSharif 71
Faisal Salhab 80
T48 Slovakia 149
Matej Babic 79
René Bergendi 74
Matus Kudlac 75
T51 Panama 150
Raul Carbonell 76
Miguel Ordonez 78
Omar Tejeira 74
T51 Philippines 150
Aidric Chan 77
Carl Corpus 73
Joaquin Hernandez 79
T51 Uruguay 152 SN
Andre Gauthier 79
Juan Pedro Altamirano 79
Mateo Quiroga 73
T54 Poland 151 GN
Alejandro Pedryc 75
Jakub Dymecki 76
Andrzej Wierzba Jr. 83
T54 Slovenia 151 GN
Luka Naglic 71
Gal Patrik Stirn 80
T56 Cayman Islands 154 SN
Joel Dodson 80
Justin Hastings 81
Aaron Jarvis 74
T56 Mexico 152
Santiago De La Fuente 77
Jose Islas 75
Jose Antonio Safa 78
58 Hungary 153
Oliver Csanyi 76
Richard Sarközi 81
Bálint Závaczki 77
59 Dominican Republic 156
Juan Cayro Delgado 79
Rhadames Peña 78
Julio Rios Brache 78
60 Bermuda 157 SN
Jarryd Dillas 76
Will Haddrell 81
Damian Palanyandi 84
T61 Trinidad and Tobago 157
Liam Bryden 79
Zico Correia 78
Christopher Junior Richards 83
T61 Ukraine 159
Timur Alalin 81
Lev Grinberg 78
Ivan Malovychko 81
T61 Zimbabwe 157 GN
Rasheed Mohamed 76
Keegan Shutt 81
Clifford Sibanda 89
T64 Costa Rica 160
Paul Chaplet 78
Jose Ignacio Cordero 82
Nicolas Tobon 83
T64 Egypt 158
Mohamed Abou El Ela 87
Issa Abou El Ela 77
Dean Naime 81
T64 Pakistan 160
Omar Khalid Hussain 85
Salman Jehangir 84
Yashal Shah 76
T64 Qatar 158
Saleh Ali Al Kaabi 78
Jaham Al Kuwari 80
Ali Al Shahrani 81
T64 United Arab Emirates 160
Abdalla Al Musharrekh 92
Ahmad Akram Skaik 78
Khalid Yousuf 82
69 Guam 167
Redge Camacho 78
Markus Nanpei 89
Nalapon Vongjalorn 93
70 Lebanon 168
Rachid Akl 82
Mazen Hamdan 86
Mehdi Ramadan 87
71 Bahrain 172 SN
Abdulla Alyaqoob 87
Khalifa Mohamed Khalifa 86
Faah Sultan 86
