Wentworth BMW PGA Championship:Peter Lawrie finished best of the Irish after the opening day of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth but at two-under par was still three shots adrift of the joint overnight lead held by Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and the English pair of David Horsey and Anthony Wall.
Lawrie mixed four birdies with two bogeys to be jusy inside the top 20 at the Surrey venue. Rory McIlroy was two shots further back after the 20-year-old birdied the final two holes for a level par 72.
Paul MCGinley was next on one-over, while Darren Clarke shot 72. Gareth Maybin and Graeme McDowell both recorded 75s while Gary Murphy and John Kelly were bottom of the pile on 10 and 14 over respectively.
Michael Hoey was unable to complete a second tournament in as many weeks. Last week he was disqualified from the Irish Open for having 15 clubs in the bag and today the Portuguese Open winner retired after feeling unwell. He called it a day at the 13th after feeling dizzy - he was one-over at the time.
McDowell is still struggling with the leg injury which forced him out of the Irish Open after a course record 61 last week.
The Ryder Cup headed off for a scan after today’s round which he hoped would end fears that he may have a stress fracture.
The problem was described as shin splints at County Louth on his withdrawal last Saturday, but McDowell said the physios he had seen “are not really sure what’s on and are a little bit worried about it”.
He added: “I wasn’t feeling too good, which affected my focus. I’m hoping to play tomorrow, but it depends what the scan shows.
“They don’t think it’s a stress fracture, but if it was there’s a chance I could break my leg (as Richard Boxall did at the 1991 Open), so that’s why I’m getting it checked out.”
Fernandez-Castaño played the waiting game and proved patience really is a virtue as he picked up three shots in his last two holes to take his share of the lead.
The British Masters winner, who recorded three consecutive runner-up finishes earlier in the year, matched Horsey and Wall’s 67s.
“You had to be patience because it took us five hours and 20 minutes to finish the round,” he said. “You had to be patient if you want to do well.
“That chip on the 17th was fantastic. I missed the green short and right with my second, probably the last place you want to be on that hole with that pin position today and how hard the greens are.
“I did a fantastic chip and that was a birdie, and then a fantastic five wood on the last to four feet and then holed it. So that's a great feeling to end the day.”
European Tour rookie Horsey, a team-mate of Rory McIlroy at the 2007 Walker Cup and winner of last season's Challenge Tour, was the first of the 150-strong field to tee off at 7am.
He was one over after five holes of his debut but birdied the next two, added another on the 12th and finished with three more.
“I started off a little bit slow, two three putts on three and four, four being for par, which was a bit disappointing,” said the 24 year old Cheshire golfer.
“And then I birdied six I think and then four birdies on the back nine. I birdied 12, and the last three, so, yeah, strong finish. The back nine is playing downwind today, so it's a little bit easier than the front nine, but you've still got to shoot the score, so I'm very pleased with how I finished.”
Londoner Wall, only two groups behind him, also came home in a four under 33.
The trio face a tough task maintaining their one stroke advantage over the field, with some big names queuing up behind in The European Tour’s flagship event.
Two more Englishmen are only one behind at four under in the shape of Barry Lane and Ross Fisher, along with South African star Charl Schwartzel, Swede Niclas Fasth and defending champion Miguel Angel Jiménez.
“This course with this wind, between the trees sometimes, it makes it quite difficult choosing the clubs on the course,” said the Spaniard.
“I played very well, very solid from tee to green, and that's what you need on this golf course. You need to play with the ball and make the putts. I've been playing very well here for the last few years and I feel good on the golf course, it's very nice, and you have to keep focused.”
Colin Montgomerie hit back from his closing 80 at The 3 Irish Open with a three under 69, the same as world number seven Paul Casey and last season's European Order of Merit winner Robert Karlsson.
"One 69 is okay but what I have to do is put another one on the board, then another one," said The Ryder Cup captain. "If I can do that, I'll be thrilled.
"I have to set my goals the way they were - to win. I feel capable of it still and it's just a matter of going out and proving it to myself. I haven't been doing that."
