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Larrazabal ekes out one-shot lead at French Open

“My dad wanted me to see how normal people work for a living, so before I turned pro he wanted me to experience all of that and I am glad that I did it.”

Pablo Larrazabal, Spanish golfer

Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal hit a six-under-par 65 to hold a one-shot lead over English duo Peter Lawrie and Oliver Fisher after the first round of the EPGA French Open on Thursday.

Last year’s US Open Champion, Angel Cabrera of Argentina, was just two off the pace on four under after an opening 67, while defending champion Graeme Storm made a quietly effective start to his title defence to join Jeev Milkha Singh and another 10 players on three under.

Larrazabal, 25, whose elder brother is former British amateur champion Alejandro, said working on his father’s fish farm had girded him for turning professional.

“I worked there for seven months and it was really hard work,” said Larrazabal, who qualified for this event by winning the pre-qualifying tournament at Chantilly last week.

“First of all I had to wake up at 5:30 in the morning because the fish wake up at 7am and I had to be there when the fish wake up. My life there was tough. I was there from seven in the morning until two in the afternoon,” he said. “Then I would have a quick lunch and go to practice and then I would go and have my driving lessons in the evening. It was a lot of hard days for seven months!”

“My dad wanted me to see how normal people work for a living, so before I turned pro he wanted me to experience all of that and I am glad that I did it,” Larrazabal said.

Another man getting used to life on Tour is the 19-year-old Fisher, while Lawrie is hoping to get used to that winning feeling after his maiden European Tour win at the Open de Andalucia earlier in the season.
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