England's Matthew Fitzpatrick has maintained his place at the top of the British Masters leaderboard, but he now shares it with Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen at nine-under-par.

The 21-year-old led by a shot at Woburn following a first-round 64.

On Friday, Fitzpatrick had a troubled start by dropping a shot on the first hole, but he recovered by scoring four birdies.

After two birdies and another two bogeys, the Englishman hit two-under for the day, while Kjeldsen hit three-under following five birdies and two dropped shots.

Graeme McDowell made a late charge up the leaderboard to finish four shots off the pace after hitting three birdies on the back nine, while Ian Poulter, who is playing at his home course, had a disastrous start and was in danger of missing the cut after recording a double bogey on the fifth hole.

However, the Englishman managed to recover to finish one-under for the day, four shots above the cut.