Two-time champion Thomas Pieters made nine birdies in a first round of 65 to sit one shot off the lead at the 2022 D+D Real Czech Masters.

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The DP World Tour returns to mainland Europe for the D+D Real Czech Masters, just west of Prague. 2022 will mark the eighth edition of the event at the Albatross Golf Resort, with American Johannes Veerman looking to defend his 2021 title, which was his first victory on the tour. In fact, D+D Real Czech Masters has proven a happy hunting ground for first time winners with five out of the eight victors since its inception in 2014 lifting a trophy for the first time on tour. Currently sitting in 6th position on the DP World Tour leaderboard, Belgian Thomas Pieters enters the D+D as the highest ranked golfer. He will be hoping that his consistent form that has seen him only miss three cuts this year will stand him in good stead to be lifting silverware by the end of the weekend, having won the event twice previously in 2015 and 2019. Other notable names to look out for include 2022 Hero Open winner Sean Crocker, 2022 Dutch Open champion Victor Perez and Italian Andrea Pavan who triumphed at the Albatross Golf Resort in 2018.

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