Gareth Maybin relinquished the lead at the BMW Italian Open today after managing just a 70 to add to yesterday’s course record 64 in Turin, but the Irishman remains a contender in second place, one shot behind Argentinean Daniel Vancsik. The big-hitter took over at the top at nine-under par with a 65, while American star John Daly stayed in the hunt with a second successive 69 for four under.
Maybin, three clear overnight, had just one bogey after driving into the rough on the 435-yard third, but there were only two birdies - a 25-footer on the short 15th, his sixth, and a 15-footer at the first.
“Tee to green I was not very good,” admitted the European Tour rookie, who in December lost the South African Open in a play-off after missing an eight-foot putt on the final green.
“I had to work really hard - too hard - and I’ll do a bit of work on the range to sort my driving out.
“Usually anybody who finishes well is going to have one of those days, so hopefully that’s mine out of the way.”
Fellow Ulsterman Darren Clarke will not be around at the weekend after a 75 saw him drop to a disappointing seven over.
Gary Murphy was just one shot inside the cut after a 72 left him on level par, while Michael McGeady and Jonathan Caldwell moved to three under after they both carded 68s.
Vancsik, a winner in Madeira two years ago, made his move with five birdies in six holes around the turn and parred in from there.
His was not the low round of the morning, however. Finn Roope Kakko improved from level par to seven under with a 64, although it will not be listed as matching Maybin’s course record as placing was allowed on the fairways.
Kakko, one of the last players into the championship, shared third spot with England’s Anthony Wall, who shot 67, and Iceland’s Birgir Hafthorsson.
Colin Montgomerie missed yet another halfway cut today after the eight-time European number one bogeyed the final two holes to crash out just as he did in the Spanish Open a week ago.
“I should not be missing cuts in these tournaments,” said the Ryder Cup captain, only a month away now from his 46th birthday. “I came to gain on the Order of Merit and world rankings and I’m losing ground.”
He is currently a lowly 96th on the Race To Dubai money list and down at 171st in the world.
Three birdies in four holes from the 13th looked to have saved Montgomerie, but he failed to get up and down from a bunker at the 17th and on the last missed the green again and left his chip 25 feet short. That meant a second successive 72 for a two-over par total.
Meanwhile, Eamon Darcy is four shots off the pace after the first round of the Son Gual Mallorca Senior Open. The former Ryder Cup player carded a one-under par 71 to trail Jamaica’s Delroy Cambridge, who takes a one-shot lead over England’s Roger Chapman into the second round.
Eddie Polland also shot a 71, while Jimmy Heggarty and Des Smyth carded 73s.
LEADERBOARD
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71)
133Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 68 65
134 Gareth Maybin 64 70
135Anthony Wall 68 67, Roope Kakko (Fin) 71 64, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 70 65
137Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 69, Andrew Tampion (Aus) 70 67, Richie Ramsay 67 70, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 72 65, Ake Nilsson (Rsa) 68 69, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 67 70, Brett Rumford (Aus) 68 69, Robert Rock 72 65, Marcus Higley 67 70, Julien Clement (Swi) 70 67
138Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 68 70, Anders Hansen (Den) 73 65, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 74 64, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 69 69, John Daly (USA) 69 69, Gary Lockerbie 69 69, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 71 67, Inder Van Weerelt (Ned) 69 69, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 68 70
139Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 73 66,
Jonathan Caldwell 71 68, Christian Cevaer (Fra) 67 72,
Michael McGeady 71 68, Robert Dinwiddie 72 67, Branden Grace (Rsa) 69 70, David Lynn 71 68, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 70 69, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 70 69, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 70 69, Gregory Havret (Fra) 69 70
140Gary Orr 72 68, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 69 71, Alan McLean 71 69, Benn Barham 73 67, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 71 69, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 71 69, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 72 68, Matteo Delpodio (Ita) 68 72, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 73 67
141Chris Gane 71 70, Garry Houston 68 73, Marco Soffietti (Ita) 72 69, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 68 73, Soren Hansen (Den) 74 67, Sion Bebb 73 68, Metteo Manassero (Ita) 71 70, Wil Besseling (Ned) 72 69, Lee Slattery 72 69, Marc Warren 74 67, Stephen Dodd 70 71, Phillip Archer 71 70, Alastair Forsyth 73 68, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 70 71, Mark Foster 70 71
142Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa) 68 74, John Mellor 69 73, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 70 72, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 74 68, David Frost (Rsa) 76 66, Gary Clark 72 70, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 73 69, Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 70 72,
Gary Murphy 70 72, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 72 70, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 74 68
Missed Cut
143Richard Bland 72 71, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 71 72, Niccolo Quintarelli (Ita) 72 71, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 72 71, Scott Barr (Aus) 71 72, Taco Remkes (Ned) 72 71, Paul Lawrie 76 67, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 72 71, Bradley Dredge 70 73
144Simon Robinson 72 72, Colin Montgomerie 72 72, Andrew Coltart 75 69, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 73 71, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 71 73, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 75 69, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 69 75, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 74 70, Anthony Kang (USA) 73 71, David Drysdale 69 75, Costantino Rocca (Ita) 74 70, Marco Bernardini (Ita) 74 70, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 74 70, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 74 70
145Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 72 73, Stuart Davis 74 71, Peter Whiteford 79 66, Tino Schuster (Ger) 77 68, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 76 69, Kenneth Ferrie 75 70, Steven O'Hara 72 73, Matthew Millar (Aus) 73 72, Michael Curtain (Aus) 70 75, Thomas Levet (Fra) 73 72
146Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 73 73, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 73 73, Jan Are Larsen (Nor) 73 73, Paul Broadhurst 73 73, Gregory Molteni (Ita) 69 77, John E Morgan 72 74, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 75 71, Sam Little 77 69, Barry Lane 72 74
147Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 74 73, Richard McEvoy 73 74, Stuart Manley 73 74, Simon Khan 70 77, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 75 72, Iain Pyman 76 71, Sam Walker 73 74, Mark f Haastrup (Den) 72 75, Stephen Gallacher 72 75, Alexander Noren (Swe) 75 72, Antti Ahokas (Fin) 75 72, Michele Reale (Ita) 78 69
148Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 76 72, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 76 72, Andrea Zanini (Ita) 75 73, Seve Benson 73 75, Callum Macaulay 76 72, Miles Tunnicliff 72 76, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 76 72, Christopher Doak 76 72
149Sven Struver (Ger) 76 73, Nunzio Lombardi (Ita) 77 72, Andrea Signor (Ita) 75 74, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 73 76,
Darren Clarke 74 75, Kane Webber (USA) 74 75
150Federico Colombo (Ita) 77 73, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (Spa) 73 77
151Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 77 74, Peter Baker 78 73, Markus Brier (Aut) 77 74, Mattia Miloro (Ita) 75 76, Simon Wakefield 73 78
152Raphael De Sousa (Swi) 79 73, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 78 74, Alan Wagner (USA) 74 78, Oliver Fisher 73 79
153Santiago Luna (Spa) 78 75
155Andrea Zani (Ita) 76 79, Leonardo Motta (Ita) 75 80, Pablo Martin (Spa) 73 82
156Emmanuele Lattanzi (Ita) 79 77
