Fox, Olesen share British Masters lead | Bland, Willett both struggle

Ryan Fox and Thorbjorn Olesen share the early at the Betfred British Masters, where defending champion Richard Bland and tournament host Danny Willett both made slow starts.

Fox birdied his final three holes to card a six-under 66 at the Belfry and match the total set by Olesen earlier in the day, who registered six birdies in his blemish-free start.

The pair hold a one-shot advantage over Scotland's Richie Ramsay, Germany's Hurly Long and China's Ashun Wu, while Bland and Willett are both seven off the pace after opening-round 73s.

Olesen, who was part of Europe's Ryder Cup success in 2018, is attempting to rebuild his career after he was cleared in December last year of sexually assaulting a woman on a British Airways flight back from a World Golf Championship event in July 2019.

"There's a lot of things I want to accomplish," said Olesen, who is without a win since 2018. "You have to stay in the present obviously but it's been a while since I've been in the winner's circle, and that's my main goal this year. Obviously I'm working hard on my swing, changed coach. It's starting to get a lot better and hopefully I can just build on some confidence with it."

Video: Boris Becker (Evening Standard)

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