Luiten leads Dutch Open in front of home crowd

CROMVOIRT, Netherlands — Joost Luiten made an impressive start to his bid for a third victory at the Dutch Open on Thursday.

Luiten had eight birdies and one bogey in a first-round 7-under 65 in front of a home crowd at the European tour event at Bernardus Golf.

That gave the No. 401 a one-shot lead over England’s Eddie Pepperell and Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard.

“It could have been better but I can’t be picky,” said Luiten, who lipped out for an eagle from 45 feet on the 18th. “I’ve been struggling a bit with my game, so it’s great to see this score today.”

Mikko Korhonen, Victor Perez, Andrea Pavan and Marcel Schneider shared a four-way tie for fourth, two shots behind Luiten.