Matthew Fitzpatrick trails by four in Austria as Richard Finch battles

Sheffield’s Matthew Fitzpatrick got his first round in the Lyoness Open in Austria off to an excellent start with a birdie at the opening hole, one of three he recorded at the course’s four par-5 holes on the way to a 69.

By Chris Stratford

Published 11th Jun 2015, 19:56 GMT

Sheffield's Matthew Fitzpatrick (Picture: David J Phillip/AP).

He immediately repaired the damage caused by his only bogey of the day, at the 14th hole - and with interest - by birdieing the next two.

He trailed leader Gregory Bourdy, of France, by four on day one.

Hull’s Richard Finch showed superb strength of mind to record four consecutive birdies from the 13th hole to card an opening 73.

Finch may well have been reeling after compounding a poor outward nine, which concluded with a double bogey at the ninth, with dropped shots at holes 10 and 12.

But the quartet of retrieved shots gives him a chance to go low today in a bid to make the weekend’s action.