VILAMOURA, Portugal, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- James Kingston had seven birdies in an eight-hole span Thursday in taking the first-round lead at the European Tour's Portugal Masters.
Kingston ended up with nine birdies and a bogey for an 8-under-par 64 at the Oceanico Victoria Golf Course.
Five golfers -- Thomas Bjorn, Rhys Davies, Simon Kahn, Gareth Maybin and Bernd Wiesberger -- are tied for second at 7-under. Another nine are just two strokes off Kingston's lead.
Kingston was 1-under after seven holes but then ran off five consecutive birdies. After a par at No. 13, he had back-to-back birdies. He did have a bogey at the par-3 16th hole but was able to close with a 20-foot putt for birdie at 18.
"I felt I could have done a little better earlier in the round," Kingston said. "Then all of the sudden I made one or two and my tail got in the air.
"I hit some really good iron shots pretty close -- five in a row, which is nice and then another few coming in."
