Andreas Harto proposes to his girlfriend after sinking a birdie

After starting at the 10th, Clarke went out in two-over-par 37 but four birdies and an eagle over the opening seven holes of the back nine moved him into a challenging position.

Sheffield’s Matt Fitzpatrick registered a two-under-par 69 in the first round of the Made in Denmark tournament in Farso.

“I holed my third shot on the 11th from 130 yards to make eagle, then I had five birdies in a row from the 13th, so it was a very good first nine”.

Further down the leaderboard, Scotland’s former Open champion Paul Lawrie was on five under with European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke three under. His only other European Tour start this year came at the Madeira Islands Open, where he finished T-18. I wouldn’t say it affected me too much but I three-putted, then made a mess of the next hole. He looked set to take a share of the clubhouse lead until bogeying the last.

“I saw on the sixth that David was 17 under and I knew I had to get going a bit”.

The world No 658 slipped down the leaderboard after following a double-bogey at the fifth with a run of four straight bogeys around the turn, but closed his tournament in memorable fashion.

Horsey carded seven birdies and an eagle in his eight-under-par round at the Himmerland Golf and Spa Resort to lead by one from Welshman Oliver Farr.