International Open:Raphael Jacquelin of France and French-born Jose-Felipe Lima of Portugal posted seven-under 65s to lead the BMW International Open first round by a stroke yesterday.
Jacquelin showed his liking for the Eichenried course where he is joint course record-holder after a 62 in 2003.
The joint leaders head another Frenchman, 47-year-old Marc Farry, Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Briton Paul Broadhurst.
World number five Ernie Els of South Africa and Swede Niclas Fasth lie two shots off the lead while Britons Paul Casey and Nick Dougherty are three behind.
Peter Lawrie was the only one of the four Irish entrants under par, after a 71, while Paul McGinley, Damien McGrane and Gary Murphy all shot 74.
Lima, born in Versailles of Portuguese parents, set the target after a short break because of bad weather earlier in the day.
Jacquelin, seeking his second title of the season after victory in the Asian Open in March, caught Lima in the afternoon.
The Frenchman was happy to excel on one of his favourite hunting grounds.
"I shot 10-under one time here, I won a car here for a hole-in-one in 2001 and today I holed some putts," Jacquelin said.
His key putt was not one of his eight birdies but a 25-foot save on the 14th for par which subsequently kept him on top of the leaderboard.
Like Jacquelin, Lima hit back from an early bogey, including two eagles on his card, the last at the 18th coming from only seven feet.
Lima was happy to have at last found form after suffering back problems.
"This round was good for my confidence," Lima said. "The beginning of the year has been very difficult, with a lot of missed cuts."
Casey blamed the greens that softened in the afternoon following earlier rain for not being higher up on the leaderboard.
"It was an afternoon of some good golf but on a golf course which wouldn't yield birdies," he said. "I hit some tremendous putts but they (the greens) are bumpy and soft and footprints kept them out."
Farry was back making golfing headlines and, unlike last time, he was perfectly happy about it.
Four years after becoming the first European Tour player to fail a drug test - he was later exonerated because the substance was prescribed by a doctor to combat a wrist injury - he is now trying to fight his way back onto the circuit.
Farry's one Tour victory in a professional career that goes back to 1979 came when the event was reduced by rain to 36 holes 11 years ago.
But he lost his card at the end of a 2003 season mostly remembered for what happened at his national Open.
The French government arrived and chose six players for drug testing.
Farry was one of them and his sample proved positive for the banned steroid prednisolone, an anti-inflammatory not considered performance-enhancing.
"I'm not like that and it really hurt me inside because it was weeks between the test result and being cleared," he said.
"It was on the internet and I got phone calls from all over the world. I had to keep explaining the situation and it bothered me."
As did the injury. Tendinitis developed in his elbows, which he has been battling for the last two years.
Victory on Sunday would make him exempt until the end of the 2009 season - by which time he will be eligible for the seniors tour - and even a top 10 finish will bring a smile to his face.
That is because it would qualify him for next week's French Open, an event he was not pleased to miss out on an invitation for last year.
He said: "They gave them to a few American guys (Bobby Clampett and Barry Jaeckel) so they could go shopping in Paris. I think it was really rude to not only me, but the French players who represented their country for years and played the French Open for years."
Bernhard Langer needed treatment on the course for a neck injury as he struggled to a 76 and former Open and Masters champion Sandy Lyle crashed to last place with an 82.
Colin Montgomerie pulled out of the tournament because of sickness before catching a flight from London.
