PAUL CASEY'S hopes of defending his Scottish PGA Championship went literally down the drain after a bizarre piece of bad luck at Gleneagles yesterday.
The 25-year-old was four under par after his first 10 holes and just one shot off the lead when he amazingly lost a ball on the second fairway.
After pushing his drive into the rough, the former Walker Cup star played his second shot safely up the fairway with a sand wedge, leaving a simple approach to the green on the 516-yard par five.
But when he went to where he thought it would have landed, neither he nor playing partners Sandy Lyle or Richard Johnson could find it.
After spending the allotted five minutes looking for the ball it was declared lost, but on the way back down the fairway to play another ball, his original was found to have slipped down a drain in the fairway.
If it had been found in the five-minute period Casey would have been given a free drop from the obstruction, but as it had been declared lost he had to play another ball, now his fourth shot, from where he had hit his second shot.
It all led to a double-bogey seven and undoubtedly contributed to three more dropped shots coming home that meant he had to settle for a level-par 72, five shots behind clubhouse leaders Andrew Oldcorn, Raymond Russell, Ian Garbutt and Scott Gardiner.
"You shouldn't lose a ball in the middle of the fairway with quite a few people watching. It's really bizarre and it's not as if it was a bad shot. The only thing I can take from today is that I did make lots of birdies."
Lyle admitted he had never seen anything like it in his 25 years as a professional, and called for more ball spotters on the course to prevent players losing more balls in the heavy rough.
"It is a brutal golf course in places out there, if you don't get your tee shots away you are a dead duck," said Lyle, who carded an opening 68 to be just one off the pace as he tries to earn the £25,000 he will probably need to keep his card for next season.
Pacesetters Russell and Oldcorn gave the home galleries plenty to cheer on a glorious day on the Centenary Course, which will stage the 2014 Ryder Cup.
Russell reaped the benefits of some intensive practice with coach Bob Torrance over the last few days to card six birdies, five of them in six holes, and just one bogey, while Oldcorn fired eight birdies but his third bogey of the day on the last cost him the outright lead.
Oldcorn, who this time last year was fighting to qualify for the Ryder Cup team, said: "The main problem with my game has been my putting which has been diabolical. I'm on about putter number 95 now! "But this one, an Odyssey two-ball, seemed to behave itself. I've drawn a line between the balls and also on my ball which keeps me more aligned."
Scottish PGA Championship (Irl in bold, Brit unless stated, x denotes amateurs): 65 R Green (Aus) 66 F Andersson (Swe) 67 S Gardiner (Aus), I Garbutt, R Russell, A Oldcorn, J Spence, A Scott (Aus), R Jacquelin (Fra), S Dodd, I Garrido (Spa), P Sjoland (Swe), M Cort 68 D Park, J Robinson, H Bjornstad (Nor), D Howell, S Lyle, S Scahill (Nzl), C Lee, J Bickerton, A Forsyth, M Lafeber (Ned), P Walton 69 B Teilleria (Fra), S Luna (Spa), D Gilford, S Torrance, B Rumford (Aus), M Roe, G Orr, P Senior (Aus), A Cejka (Ger), R Coles, D Lynn 70 M Siem (Ger), G Emerson, M James, M Scarpa (Ita), C Donald, R Muntz (Ned), M Gronberg (Swe), A Coltart, S Little, P Fowler (Aus) 71 S Khan, E Boult (Nzl), J -F Remesy (Fra), G Havret (Fra), I Hutchings (Rsa), C Gillies, D Smyth, S Leaney (Aus), B Marchbank, K Eriksson (Swe), R Bland, C Gane, M Pilkington, S Kjeldsen (Den), I Poulter, S Gallacher, N O'Hern (Aus), M Warren 72 V Phillips, C Hanell (Swe), K Ferrie, J Hugo (Rsa), A Mednick (Swe), P Casey, N Kalouguine (Fra), G Turner (Nzl), N Dougherty, A Wall, T Johnstone (Zim), M Mackenzie, B Davis, J Lomas, G Hamerton, M-V Hastrup (Den), M Mouland, M Tunnicliff 73 R Chapman, G Storm, W Bennett, S Webster, O Edmond (Fra), G Law, D Edlund (Swe), B Hume, G Evans, M Olander (Swe), M Eliasson (Swe), D Carter, D De Vooght (Bel), M King, P Mitchell, S Henderson, J Skold (Swe) 74 E Simsek (Ger), D Fichardt (Rsa), R Winchester, G Owen, S Dyson, J Berendt (Arg), L Parsons (Aus), O Karlsson (Swe), I Pyman, P Golding, P Eales, A Forsbrand (Swe), G Brand Jnr, R-J Derksen (Ned) 75 A Salto (Spa), M Persson Atlevi (Swe), M Reale (Ita), A Butterfield, S Smith, C Doak, B Dickerson (USA), J Kingston (Rsa), S Webster, P Baker, M Maritz (Rsa), P Broadhurst 76 A Webster, G Collinson, G Clark, R Claydon, R S Johnson (Swe), C Suneson (Spa), D Drysdale, W Guy, G Fox, M Ilonen (Fin), S Delagrange (Fra), F Jacobson (Swe), S Walker 77 A Marshall, R Drummond, R Arnott, M Davis, P Hanson (Swe), A Reid, D Orr 78 M Gray, R Wessels (Rsa), G Rankin 79 A Crerar, M Lundberg (Swe), C Kelly 80 F Mann 81 H Stenson (Swe) 82 (x) A McArthur, D Lee Rtd: J Donaldson Disq: C Pottier (Fra).
