Mo problems for Lampert in Qatar

Challenge Tour Graduate Moritz Lampert revelled in playing alongside childhood friend Dominic Foos on day one at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters as the pair from European Tour Destination Golf Club St Leon Rot got off to impressive starts in Doha.

The German, who won three times on the second tier last season en route to fourth place on the Rankings, recovered from an early dropped shot at the 11th – his second – with six birdies to sign for a five under par score.

That has the 22 year old in an 11-way tie for third after 18 holes in the Middle East, while Foos, five years his junior and playing on a sponsor’s invite this week, opened with a round of one under, in only the 11th European Tour start of his fledgling career.

Since earning an early graduation via his trio of titles on the Challenge Tour in 2014, Lampert has perhaps struggled to transfer that form to life on The Race to Dubai, but will hope that his performance on Wednesday is a step in the right direction.

“I played well today,” said Lampert, who represented Europe in the Junior Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in 2010. “I actually played well last week as well, I just couldn't really score well enough. Today I hit a lot of good iron shots though, and drove it well, which makes it quite scorable around here in the morning with soft greens. I’m quite happy with that start.

“I gave myself a lot of chances out there, and made a couple of birdies from five to six feet, which was nice. I also almost holed out on eight, which would have been a nice hole in one. My putting is getting better though, as I’ve been working on that and it's paying off so far.

“Myself and Dominic are from the same club, so we have known each other for quite a long time, we also played for the same team. It's good to see him out here and I hope he does well with his invites and hope to play with him again.”

His opening round in Qatar was certainly a step in the right direction for the promising Lampert, and he believes he can only benefit from having a little more certainty around his schedule during his second European Tour campaign, a fact that should enable him to plan more effectively.

After losing his place on The Race to Dubai at the end of his rookie season in 2012, Lampert returned to the Challenge Tour with no status, before a win at the Kärnten Golf Open presented by Mazda, in only his third start, changed everything.

“Being able to plan my schedule really helped me after my first victory on The Challenge Tour,” said Lampert. “I couldn't really plan what tournaments I was going to play, like two years ago when I was on Tour from the Qualifying School and I couldn't really play the big events.

“Now I can plan my events. I can play in the Desert Swing, then go home, then play Thailand. So really it's less pressure than two years ago, because I know where I'm going to play and I know the courses, so we'll see what I can do the rest of the year.”

After his maiden Challenge Tour victory Lampert went on to win two more times – at the Fred Olsen Challenge de España and the Azerbaijan Golf Challenge Open – to confirm his place amongst European Golf’s elite. Cue a busy off season in which he took some time off, also spent of a week training at the European Tour Performance Institute at Jumeirah Golf Estates with the German National Team, ahead of teeing it up last week in Abu Dhabi.

He said: “I had a good break over Christmas, then came back to Dubai for some practice before Abu Dhabi, and I was really happy to be playing again. I think that's the most important thing for me because sometimes at the end of the year, you feel like you have to play another tournament, another tournament, another tournament.

“At the beginning of the year, though, you’re ready to go. Your game might be a little rusty, but I was ready to go and it seems like I'm playing well now.”