Luiten, McLeary share lead at suspended KLM Open

Zandvoort, The Netherlands (SportsNetwork.com) - Joost Luiten carded a 5-under 65 on Thursday and grabbed a share of the lead with the first round of the KLM Open suspended due to darkness.

Luiten, the defending champion, was joined at minus-5 by Jamie McLeary, who completed 16 holes of round one at Kennemer Golf & Country Club.

Italians Edoardo Molinari and Andrea Pavan posted 4-under 66s. They share third place with Gary Stal.

"It was a really good round especially as I wasn't hitting the ball well off the tee," admitted Molinari. "I chipped well and had a lot of good iron shots, so I need to work on my driving and then I should be alright."

Thomas Aiken, Daniel Im, Tano Goya, Maximilian Kieffer and Andy Sullivan are tied for sixth at minus-3. Paul Casey and Matteo Manassero headline a group of players at 2-under par.

There was a delay of nearly two hours after Fabrizio Zanotti was struck in the head by a wayward tee shot. Alexandre Kaleka hit a poor tee shot off the 14th tee and hit Zanotti in the forehead as he played the 16th.

Zanotti was treated on the course, then taken to a hospital for further testing. He was later released.

Luiten played the back nine first on Thursday and he opened with eight straight pars. He finally got on the board with a birdie at the 18th.

Around the turn, Luiten gave that shot right back as he bogeyed the first. He moved back into red figures with a birdie on No. 3.

Luiten parred the fourth and fifth before jumping into contention. He birdied the sixth and followed with a 15-foot eagle putt on the par-5 seventh. Luiten converted a 3-foot birdie effort on the par-3 eighth to move to 5-under. He parred the last to end there.

"It is always nice to shoot a 65. I played well and didn't make any mistakes. That's the key on this course, keep the ball in play and take your chances. For me, it was a good solid round and I hit some nice spots," said Luiten. "You have to take your chances. Sometimes you can be conservative and take irons off the tee, but if you feel good with the driver, you have to hit it and make a tough hole into a birdie hole."

McLeary also played the back nine first in round one. He birdied the 10th, but gave that shot back when he bogeyed the 13th.

The Scotsman moved to 2-under with birdies on the 16th and 18th. He made eagle at the second to jump within one of the lead.

After four pars in a row, McLeary birdied the seventh before play was halted for the day.

NOTES: First-round play will resume at 8 a.m. local time on Friday ... Luiten is looking to become the first player to successfully defend his title since Bob Byman did so in 1978 ... James Heath had a hole-in-one on the par-3 11th.