Simon Forsstrom leads as John Murphy makes strong start

England's James Morrison lies a shot off the lead after the opening day of the Soudal Open after enjoying a welcome return to form in Antwerp while there was a mixed day for Irish duo John Murphy and Gavin Hurley.

Morrison has missed the cut in six of his 10 events in 2023 and recorded his best finish of 46th in January, but carded six birdies in a flawless 65 to share second place with compatriot Andrew Wilson, Marcel Siem and Jens Dantorp.

Sweden’s Simon Forsstrom, who won the DP World Tour qualifying school last year, leads the way on seven under after a bogey-free 64 at Rinkven International Golf Club.

Murphy carded a round of 69 to sit six shots off the pace.

The Cork man picked up a birdie at the fourth as he holed a 12-foot putt before picking up another birdie at the 10th.

An errant tee shot into the native area on 16 resulted in his first bogey of the day, but despite again going right off the tee on the next hole, he was able to birdie the par-five 17th

Hurley faces a fight to make the cut after finishing on two-over par.

Starting on the 10th hole, Hurley birdied the 11th, but the rest of his round contained five bogeys and just two more birdies.

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"It feels very, very good considering the golf I've been playing the last eight, nine months," Morrison said.

"It was a good day to play that well and was really enjoyable. It’s been a pretty slow start to the year. It has been coming, but the hardest thing in golf is patience and waiting for it.

"Length isn’t one of my strengths, but you come here and kind of lick your lips a little bit and think 'I can win or do well around here’ and it’s a matter of maintaining your precision and ticking along."

Forsstrom is also a fan of a course which measures less than