THREE birdies in four holes on the front nine gave Eddie Pepperell a two-under-par 69 in the first round of the KLM Open in Spijk, Holland.

The Abingdon golfer's birdie burst came after he dropped a shot at the second hole.

After going out in two-under-par 33, Pepperell had a bogey on the tenth before birdieing the par-five 18th for a 69.

That was good enough to put him joint tenth, before play was halted by heavy rain.

The joint leaders after five-under-par rounds of 66 are Austrian Bernd Wiesberger and Englishman Richard Finch.