<p>FARSO, Denmark — Richard Bland is back in the lead on the European Tour, two weeks after becoming the oldest first-time winner in its history.</p>
<p>The 48-year-old Englishman shot 5-under 66 on Thursday to share the first-round lead at the Made in Himmerland event in Denmark with Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal, Finland’s Lauri Ruuska, Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger and South Korea’s Yi Keun Chang.</p>
<p>In the last event on the tour — the British Masters two weeks ago — Bland finally won at the 478th attempt by beating Guido Migliozzi in a playoff at The Belfry.</p>
<p>“I was just happy to get back out playing, to be honest,” the No. 134-ranked Bland said. "I hadn’t really done a lot last week, I played once with some friends and did a little bit of practice.</p>
<p>“I was coming in a little bit unprepared, but sometimes that’s not always a bad thing. I just tried to carry on where I left off and managed to do that.”</p>
<p>Wiesberger is defending the title he won in 2019 — the event was canceled last year because of the pandemic — and moved into contention with three straight birdies from the fourth hole before an eagle on No. 8. He holed a 30-foot putt for birdie at the last.</p>
<p>Ruuska, whose round included a hole-in-one at the par-3 16th, usually plays in the Nordic Golf League. He has an exemption for this week.</p>
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