Rookies Van Meijel and Vacarisas on top in Sokhna

Rookies are leading in Red Sea Little Venice Open. Dutch Lars Van Meijel and Spain’s Lucas Vacarisas (picture) are both -9 total after shooting respectively 66 and 69.

Van Meijel, member of the last victorious Palmer Cup, was in contention last week during the first event of the season. This experience can help him to improve his 4^th recorded last week.

« It was really cold this morning but I started really well, I was 4 under through 6 holes. So I thought it would be a pretty low round. Afterward I did not hit that many good shots but that was good enough and the par 5 I birdied.
Tomorrow I am just gonna go play the same I have the last 5 rounds and we will see. It is fun here because there are a lot of players I played with as an amateur and there 3 Dutch guys so it doesn’t really change now that I am professional »

Vacarisas, 18, holed 6 birdies during his round but had some trouble on a couple of holes. He admitted he could feel the pressure of being on top of the leaderboard.

« My day was good but I was a bit nervous at the beginning of the round. But I tried to stay calm and be patient and after 4 holes I started to play my game. I hope I will be able to play the same tomorrow and to hole the putts same as today. There is one round left and if I manage to play my game I have a chance to win. »

Last week winner, France’s Julien Brun is tie for 18^th place with -2 total.