Omega European Masters 2016: Thursday Leaderboard Scores and Highlights

Paul Peterson, Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Gregory Havret and Daniel Brooks share the lead after the first round of the 2016 Omega European Masters in Crans Montana, Switzerland, as the foursome have a one-shot lead over a host of players.

All finished with a score of six-under 64, with the rest of the top 10 shooting five-under. The course in Switzerland played relatively easy, and the small gaps between the players after the first day sets up an exciting tournament.

Here's a look at the current leaderboard:

Pos	Player	To Par	Round 1 Score
T1	Paul Peterson	-6	64
T1	Mike Lorenzo-Vera	-6	64
T1	Gregory Havret	-6	64
T1	Daniel Brooks	-6	64
T5	Joachim B. Hansen	-5	65
T5	Scott Hend	-5	65
T5	Julien Quesne	-5	65
T5	Haotong Li	-5	65
T5	James Morrison	-5	65
T5	Danny Willett	-5	65

To access the full leaderboard, visit the European Tour's official website.

Recap

Peterson and Lorenzo-Vera were the early standouts on Thursday, as both carded a round of six-under to grab a share of the lead before the late starters hit the course.

The Czech Masters winner dropped just one shot all day, recording a bogey on the 11th, but he finished the front nine with two birdies on his last three holes and added five more on the back nine, including four on the last five holes.

Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

Lorenzo-Vera also did most of his damage on the back nine, recording five birdies. The Frenchman converted three of his four scrambles and was perfect with his sand saves, making up for one or two shaky shots from the tee.

Most of the top names among the early starters did well, including defending champion Danny Willett. As shared by the European Tour's official Twitter account, he finished strongly:

The 28-year-old started on the back nine and dropped just the single shot on the fifth, and while his short game was far from perfect, the eagle on the ninth left him just one shot out of the lead.

Spanish veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez sits just two shots behind Willett after the first round, as he added five birdies to his impressive career tally in Switzerland, per the European Tour:

The afternoon pack didn't have it as easy as the early starters, with many of the players struggling with the wind. Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts started well, finishing the front nine one under and picking up two quick birdies on the back nine, including this superb chip

But a bogey on the 17th and double-bogey on the 18th pushed his score back down to one-under, leaving the Belgian star with a lot of work to be done.

Andrew Johnston fared better, joining the long list of players on five-under thanks to a fine run on the back nine, where he found four birdies.

Per the European Tour's official website, the British Open breakout star is just happy to be in Switzerland: "We’re so lucky to be here, every week we’re lucky and to come and see parts of the world like this is special."

Both Brooks and Havret tied the leaders late in the day, with the former scoring two eagles in the process.

Bernd Wiesberger managed a round of two-under to stay in the running for the title, and Felipe Aguilar and Chris Wood both finished one-under.