Round 1 at Estoril saw David Mullin and Stuart Neumann take turns at the bottom of TEG 15's Wooden Spoon race. Neumann moved first. A quintuple bogey 9 at the 3rd deposited him in last place, and the 15th brought a sextuple bogey 10, his heaviest blow against par of the whole trip. To his credit, he then finished like a man with something to prove, gathering 9 points over the closing three holes from a bogey and two pars.

Mullin's turn arrived later and was no less thorough. A quadruple bogey 8 at the 12th, one of Estoril's harder holes, was followed by a triple bogey at the 17th, which is the easiest hole on the course and thus offered no excuses at all. That was sufficient to relieve Neumann of the Spoon cellar. Both men were seeing Estoril for the first time. Both had occupied last place in the Wooden Spoon standings before the tournament reached its second round. Not every debut needs to be this comprehensive.

Jon Baker assembled his position patiently across the front nine at Estoril. Pars at the 8th, 9th and 10th brought him nine points over that stretch. After ten holes he was level at the top of the 2022 TEG Trophy. His front nine of 31 points was a serious piece of work, and stood well clear of what came next.

The turn dismantled it. The 11th, one of the hardest holes on the course, produced a quintuple bogey and ended the run of pars. The 12th produced another quintuple bogey, as if to confirm the first had not been a clerical error. Ten holes of construction, demolished in two. A quadruple bogey at the 17th, the easiest hole on the course, added a further layer of insult. Baker's 96 was still his best gross of the TEG so far, which tells you something about the TEG so far. The card reads as two rounds by two different men. Only one of them was ever near the lead.