Hot putter sweeps Norwegian into lead

Vibike Stensrud produced an unblemished 18 holes yesterday to grasp the initiative on the opening day of the Waterford Crystal Women's Irish Open Championship at Faithlegg Golf Club in Waterford.

The 26-year-old Norwegian shot a six under par 66 on a day when only 17 of the 113 competitors managed to break the par of 72.

Conditions hardly militated against good scoring; there was no breeze of which to speak and the recent rain had rendered the greens receptive. The only bugbear might have been that the putting surfaces were a little slower than the players had been accustomed to in recent weeks.

However, several players were quick to point out that the greens remained very true and therefore any shortcomings with the putter were more mental than physical. Stensrud admitted: "They were a little slower but were very true and it was nice to be able to give the ball a solid whack on the greens."

Ironically it was the putter that had undermined good ball striking in recent weeks for the Norwegian but yesterday her touch returned, best illustrated by a 24-foot putt on the 17th that she holed for par. Stensrud managed a single birdie and eight pars in turning in 33 shots (one under), and recorded the same figures for the back nine.

However, on the journey home she managed five birdies over a theoretically more demanding nine holes. She is one shot clear of 21year-old French woman Marine Monnet who is in her rookie season in the Women's European Tour. Monnet praised her professional caddy Terry Mundy - he has frequently worked for Laura Davies - whom she said saved her several shots.

The French woman enjoyed only 26 putts en route to a 67. New Zealander Lynne Brooky, Sweden's Maria Hjorth and Austrian Natasha Fink were one shot further back on four under. Davies, twice a winner of this event at St Margaret's and beaten in a play-off last year, managed a fine three-underpar 69 and afterwards conceded that she enjoyed the course, describing her golf as solid.

The Irish challenge was led, not by one of the three professionals, Aideen Rogers, Debbie Hanna and Lynn McCool, but by top amateur Suzie O'Brien. The Milltown golfer shot a superb one over par 73, a score that could have been considerably lower had she enjoyed a little better fortune on the greens. On at least four occasions she left putts dangling on the lip.

She was understandably delighted: "I didn't strike the ball that well on the front nine, my timing was a little off but with the birdie on 10, I got back on track." O'Brien turned one over with two bogeys and a birdie, then birdied the 10th and 13th. The only faux pas on the back nine was a bogey on 17, a legacy of a drive that struck a tree.

She is pleased with her general play and is looking forward to representing Britain and Ireland against the US in the Curtis Cup at Ganton, England, on June 24th and 25th. Hanna and Rogers, both shot three over par 75 while McCool was one further adrift.