Ragged start from favourites in Spain
The star group did not quite live up to their billing when the Jazztel Spanish Open began at windy San Roque today.
Irish Ryder Cup hero Paul McGinley began with a double-bogey seven, then a bogey five. Former Open champion Paul Lawrie bogeyed the par-five 10th, then double-bogeyed the 405-yard 12th.
And Paul Broadhurst, winner of his first title for 10 years in Portugal two weeks ago, also ran up a six at the 12th.
It was all in keeping with the finish to the Portuguese event. Broadhurst closed with a bogey but won when Lawrie took a triple-bogey seven on the 71st hole and Barry Lane, leading by two, crashed to a quintuple bogey nine on the last.
Not that the trio made the worst start. Lawrie’s fellow Scot Alastair Forsyth, back at the scene of his European tour qualifying school victory in 1999, kicked off with a triple-bogey eight and was another to take six on the 12th and so stood five over par after a mere three holes.
As a result he was seven adrift of the three early leaders – Swede Peter Hanson, France’s Jean-Francois Remesy and Portugal’s Jose-Filipe Lima.
There were problems for some of those who started on the front nine too. Former Ryder Cup player Peter Baker, who lost his tour card at the end of last season and failed to get it back on the course, slumped to a triple-bogey seven on the first and tour chairman Jamie Spence, also relying on invitations this year, did the same shortly afterwards.
Meanwhile, for the second event running Scot Gary Orr withdrew with a back injury. The former British Masters champion did not even make it to the first tee this time.
