Andrew Coltart made the perfect start in his bid to qualify for a second Ryder Cup appearance in the delayed Scottish PGA Championship at Gleneagles today.
The start of play was put back by three and a half hours as mist and fog reduced visibility to a few yards on parts of the Centenary Course this morning.
Coltart is currently 13th in the points standings and needs a good finish here to keep his hopes alive going into the final counting event at the BMW International Open in Munich next week.
Starting on the 10th hole, the 31-year-old got off to a flyer with a birdie on the 208-yard par three followed shortly afterwards by another on the par-five 12th.
He went on to birdie the 16th and 17th to reach the turn in four-under par 32. That left last month’s Great North Open winner in a tie for the lead alongside Anthony Wall who had made a spectacular start.
Wall opened with a birdie at the first, made an eagle on the par-five second and another birdie had him four under par after four holes.
A bogey at the fifth halted his charge but another birdie on the eighth drew him level with Coltart and New Zealand's Greg Turner at the head of the field.
Ireland’s Gary Murphy was also in touch having reached the turn in four-under 32. The Kilkenny professional collected four birdies and no dropped shots.
Other Ryder Cup issues are also on the agenda this week with tonight's presentation of Scotland's bid to host the 2009 event to the cup committee.
Four courses - Gleneagles, Carnoustie, Turnberry and Loch Lomond - are hoping to stage the contest but tonight's bid is made on behalf of Scotland as a whole with each course making their own individual case as well, Gleneagles will have their turn tomorrow. -PA-