Staff WriterRicardo Gouveia called it “the round of my life,” and for good reason. The Portuguese golfer carved up The International in Amsterdam on Thursday to seize a one-shot lead after day one of the 2025 KLM Open, firing a new course record 64 at seven under par.
Gouveia, 33, started on the tenth hole and promptly tore through the back nine with birdies at every hole except the 13th and 16th. His opening salvo was enough to put him on course for something special, and he didn’t disappoint.
One more birdie at the third saw him flirting with an even lower number, but a 90-minute storm delay cooled his momentum. Still, a single bogey to close out the round couldn’t take the shine off a day that left the rest of the field chasing.
He credited the improvement to a keen observation from his coach at the Soudal Open in Belgium two weeks ago. “The work we’ve done really clicked today,” said Gouveia. “It felt like everything was in sync, and I just trusted the process.”
Ricardo Gouveia: It was one of those rounds where I started off really well and just kept the momentum going and holed a lot of putts.
I haven’t holed that many putts in a long time but obviously hit it very close on the front nine and then on the back nine, I kept playing well but with the stop and restart it was a bit tricky.
It’s always tricky when you are playing well but I am really please with the round, I would say it is the best round of my life.
I thought in every department I was really good today. I haven’t been this consistent in a while, so it was good to have a round like this, to have great feelings on the golf course in every aspect of my game.
I started off the season really well and in Belgium I felt like the game was good going into the week and then I just made a few mistakes, and my coach was there on the sidelines, and he noticed something which we worked on quite a bit over the weekend there to prepare for Austria.
The long game was much better in Austria, but the putting wasn’t good, so I knew a good round like this was very close.
I had great preparation this week and I was feeling good going into the round, but in golf you never know so I stayed very patient, and I barely made any mistakes today so that was key.
The chasing pack includes Scotland’s Connor Syme, who birdied the final hole to sit at six under par.
Syme’s round featured eight birdies, including a streak of three in a row from the seventh, though a couple of dropped shots kept him from matching Gouveia’s low score. “The rain delay actually helped me settle in,” Syme said. “It was a chance to reset and come out firing.”
A tight bunch at five under par – including fellow Scot Richie Ramsay, France’s Pierre Pineau, England’s Daniel Brown, America’s John Catlin, Germany’s Max Kieffer and Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren – are all within striking distance heading into the second round.
Spaniard Angel Hidalgo and Frenchman David Ravetto round out the top ten at four under, but it’s Gouveia who has set the early benchmark and stolen the spotlight in Amsterdam.
The 2025 KLM Open is only just getting started, and with the course playing soft after the storm, expect more fireworks as the weekend unfolds.
