World's best Popert holds three-shot G4D Open lead

Kipp Popert had six birdies and two bogeys in his opening round at Woburn

Kipp Popert, the world's top-ranked golfer with a disability, holds a three-shot lead after the opening round of the G4D Open at Woburn.

The Englishman hit a four-under 68 at the Duchess course to set the pace in the three-round 54-hole event.

Ireland's Brendan Lawlor, winner of last year's inaugural G4D Open, birdied the last to card a 71 and is tied with England's Mike Browne on one under.

"It was a solid round. Two more good days of golf and see how we go," said Popert, who has won nine times on the G4D Tour since it was launched in 2022.

Popert, who has cerebral palsy, finished runner-up to Lawlor over the same course last year.

"Four under par is super shooting from Kipp," said Lawlor, who has a rare condition called Ellis-van Creveld syndrome that is characterised by a shorter stature and shorter limbs.

"But I feel like I have that [score] in me. It's a marathon, not a sprint."

England's Thomas Blizzard, who has autism, finished round one inside the top-10 after a 76 - one day after sitting an A-Level exam.

Daphne van Houten from the Netherlands, the leading women’s player in the field, struck the opening tee shot on her way to an 82.

The Championship - held in partnership between the DP World Tour and The R&A and supported by EDGA (formally the European Disabled Golf Association) - features 80 men and women, aged 15-68, playing in nine sport classes across multiple impairment groups.

An overall champion will be crowned, as well as an opposite sex winner, with a gross prize in each of the sport classes which cover various categories in standing, intellectual, visual and sitting.