The first round of the Irish Open was completed at the Juliet Heights Golf course in the early hours of July 1, Beijing time. China's Wu Ashun was -2 after the first round and ranked T58. New Zealand's Ryan Fox is alone in the lead at -8 after a strong opening round. Spain's Jorge Cappiello, Paraguay's Fabrizio Zanotti, Germany's Marcel Schnider and France's Frederico Lacroix were one shot behind.
Ashun Wu starts the first round from the 10th hole. At the par-four 12th hole, Ashun failed to hit his tee shot into the fairway and hit his second shot into the half-length rough at the edge of the green to eight yards from the hole. That did not stop Ashun, who birdied the hole with his third shot. On the par-four 16th, Ah Shun hit his third shot from seven yards out for another birdie. After finishing the first nine holes, Ah Shun went into the turn with a 2-birdie score.
（Ashun Wu in the ring）
On the back nine, he got into trouble on the par-four No. 4. He chipped in his par-saving putt from four yards out. The ball stopped seven yards from the hole, but Ah Shun didn't let up on the fifth shot and chipped in, but he still made bogey. But Shun then made up for the loss with a birdie on the sixth hole.
So Shun finished the round with three birdies and one bogey, two strokes, and now temporarily ranks T58. In the second round, Ah Shun will start from Hole 1 at 19:30 Beijing time.
Lead the standings
（Lead after the first round）
New Zealand's Ryan Fox showed great form in the opening round. Starting from the 10th hole, he made a one-yard putt and birdied the par-5 10th hole. He then birdied No. 17, another par-5 hole on the back nine. Before the turn, Fox's two birdies and zero bogeys were unremarkable.
But on the first nine holes of the course, Fox's touch changed dramatically. From holes 1 to 4, Fox made four birdies in a row. On the par-3 No. 3 hole, he made his second putt from about 10 yards out for birdie. Fox then showed his putting touch again on the par-three sixth and par-five eighth holes, winning two birdies.
When Fox finished 18 holes, his scorecard had eight birdies, zero bogeys, and a remarkable score of -8, giving him sole possession of the lead.
Fox has been in excellent form of late, with three top-three finishes in his last five races. "I've had a chance to win it a couple of times over the last few weeks and hopefully I can still have a chance to contend for it here this week." Fox said in a postgame interview.
（Fox in the Game）
Fox's good form is also due to his excellent mentality. "I just want to go out there and try to hit a good shot, and if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen."
In the second round, Fox will start from hole 1 at 20:10 Beijing time.
Among the four players on T2 at -7 in the first round, Jorge Cappiello, Fabrizio Zannotti and Marcel Schneider all posted scorecards with zero bogeys. Cappiello and Zanotti netted seven birdies, while Schneider had an eagle and five birdies.
（Lacroix in the ring）
Of the T2 players, Frederico Lacroix was the only one to swallow bogey. He had two eagles, four birdies and one bogey in the round and also finished at -7, on T2.
