GOLF:A revitalised Andrew Coltart is back where he wants to be and chasing a second Qatar Masters title after taking a share of the first-round lead alongside Ryder Cup duo Henrik Stenson and Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Last year Coltart was without a tour card and only competed in Doha thanks to winning the inaugural event back in 1998, and trudged off the final green after missing a putt which would have earned him a guaranteed trip to Dubai the following week.
An invite to Dubai and a host of other events did ultimately follow, but this year he is guaranteed around 25 tournaments — eight more than the number of invites he had to scramble for last year — after finishing 14th at the qualifying school in November.
And after a solid performance at the South African Open before Christmas, Coltart joined Stenson and Jimenez in carding opening rounds of 66, six-under-par, to open up a one-shot lead over Lee Westwood, Robert Dinwiddie, Anders Hansen, Brett Rumford and Louis Oosthuizen.
“My career wasn’t really going anywhere expect down,” admitted Coltart, 38, a member of the 1999 Ryder Cup team.
“I was on the career money list and not achieving anything out of that category and ended up losing my card last year and had to go back to Tour school.
“I went back and things went pretty well. I was working hard with Colin Brooks back in Edinburgh and I was quite confident going into Tour school and played well and achieved something.”
After starting on the back nine at the familiar Doha Golf Club, Coltart reached the turn in four-under, courtesy mainly of an eagle two after driving the 16th green.
And despite dropping his only shot at the sixth after three putts, three further birdies kept the Scot in the hunt.
“Losing the card and doing the media work really hit home this is where I still want to be while I’m still strong enough and fit enough to compete. I want to be out here and I hope to stay here for several more years,” he added.
“Since I got my card back there is self worth in that. When you’re just hanging on, with an iffy category, it wasn’t nice asking for invites but I was very fortunate with the invites I received.”
Dubai-based Stenson, the 2006 Qatar champion who finished runner-up last year, missed the cut in Abu Dhabi last week but more hard work on the driving range paid off.
“I had a good session on the range in Abu Dhabi on Saturday and that’s about it,” said the world number 11.
“I’ve been working away on the swing and that was the problem in Abu Dhabi. I’ve been struggling with my tee balls for quite some time but got it a bit more under control, and even had the driver out on a few occasions.
“You are always only a couple of shots away from a good score and you can quickly turn it around over a week or so.
“I wouldn’t say I’m shocked with how I played but I am happy to start the tournament the way I did.”
Damien McGrane was best of the Irish after signing for a three-under 69. Earlier in the day Gary Murphy opened with 71, one better than Peter Lawrie (72) and two better than Darren Clarke (73).
Rory McIlroy had a disastrous finish to his round as two double-bogeys in the closing stages saw the Holywood teenager plummet down the field.
After reaching the turn in level par the 19-year-old doubled the 14th before another came at the par five 18th. His opening 76 left him way off the pace on four-over, the same disappointing mark as Paul McGinley.
SCOREBOARD
(Ireland and Britain unless stated, par 72)
66Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Andrew Coltart, Henrik Stenson (Swe)
67Brett Rumford (Aus), Anders Hansen (Den), Robert Dinwiddie, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Lee Westwood
68Robert Karlsson (Swe), Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Nick Dougherty, Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Paul Broadhurst
69 Damien McGrane, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Oliver Wilson, Peter Hedblom (Swe), Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Retief Goosen (Rsa), Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa)
70Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Rodney Pampling (Aus), Sergio Garcia (Spa), David Lynn, Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Seve Benson, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Anthony Wall, Stephen Dodd, Thomas Bjorn (Den), David Dixon, Ernie Els (Rsa), Niclas Fasth (Swe), Jamie Donaldson, Markus Brier (Aut)
71Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Ross Fisher, Martin Kaymer (Ger), Oliver Fisher, Gregory Havret (Fra), Anton Haig (Rsa), David Howell, Colin Montgomerie, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Gary Murphy, Phillip Archer, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Emanuele Canonica (Ita), Thomas Levet (Fra), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)
72Francesco Molinari (Ita), Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Soren Hansen (Den), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Peter Lawrie, Simon Dyson, Johan Edfors (Swe), Graeme Storm, Peter Hanson (Swe), Alexander Noren (Swe), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Steve Webster, Shiv Kapur (Ind), Marcel Siem (Ger), Scott Strange (Aus), Mark Brown (USA), Rolf Muntz (Ned), Stephen Gallacher, Paul Lawrie, Brandt Snedeker (USA)
73Hennie Otto (Rsa), Adam Scott (Aus), Joakim Haeggman (Swe), Danny Willett, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Darren Clarke, John Bickerton, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Richard Finch, Richard Green (Aus), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Mark Foster, Ross McGowan
74James Kingston (Rsa), Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Justin Rose, Boo Weekley (USA), Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Bradley Dredge
75Scott Drummond, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Kenneth Ferrie, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Lee Slattery, Alastair Forsyth
76Paul Casey, Rory McIlroy, Alvaro Velasco (Spa), Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Michael Jonzon (Swe), Paul McGinley, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)
77Christian Cevaer (Fra), Rafael Echenique (Arg), Ariel Canete (Arg), Simon Hurd
78Gary Orr, Miles Tunnicliff, Simon Wakefield
81Max Williams
RTD: Michael Campbell (Nzl)
DQ:Pablo Martin (Spa)
