EUROPEAN TOUR JOHNNIE WALKER CLASSIC:GREG NORMAN might be the big draw at this week's €1.4 million Johnnie Walker Classic but the 54-year-old failed to live up to the hype with an opening 75 in Perth, Australia, where Damien McGrane is just two shots off Robert-Jan Derksen's first-round lead.
Derksen shot a career-best eight-under-par 64 yesterday to secure the lead at the Vines Club in Western Australia. The 35-year-old picked up eight birdies in a flawless round to set a course record for the new layout.
“It’s a good start and it’s always nice to have, it’s as simple as that, but there’s a lot of golf to be played,” said Derksen, who leads by one shot on eight-under from Singapore’s Mardan Mamat and Australia’s Tony Carolan.
“I’ve been struggling a little bit with the driver lately but this week on this course it’s not only the driver, it’s a lot of other things as well, there’s a lot of position play.”
McGrane was tied for fourth on six-under alongside the English pair of Lee Westwood and John Bickerton. The Meath pro carded no fewer than eight birdies, with dropped shots at the fourth and eighth.
Peter Lawrie also finds himself well-placed just one shot behind McGrane on five-under. The Dubliner had picked up three birdies by the 12th, before setting up a grandstand finish with an eagle at the par five 18th.
Not to be outdone, Gareth Maybin also got in on the eagle act with two on the back nine. Having reached the turn in one-under 35, the Ballyclare pro eagled the par five 10th. Although he bogeyed 17, the 28-year-old book-ended his inward half with another eagle at 18, just like Lawrie, to sign for 68.
World number 11 Anthony Kim joined Maybin on four under, while Colombia’s Camilo Villegas was another who eagled the final hole but could only manage a 72.
Gary Murphy continues to struggle these days and his one-over 73 leaves him with work to do to simply make the cut.
(British unless stated, Irish in bold, par 72)
64 – Robert Jan Derksen (Ned).
65 – Tony Carolan (Aus), Mardan Mamat (Sin).
66 – Damien McGrane (Ire), John Bickerton, Lee Westwood.
67 – Anthony Kang (US), Danny Lee (Nzl), Clint Rice (Aus), Colin Montgomerie, Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Peter Lawrie (Ire), Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn).
68 – Francesco Molinari (Ita), Seung-yul Noh (Kor), Chris Gaunt (Aus), Benn Barham, Andrew Tschudin (Aus), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Scott Hend (Aus), Alexander Noren (Swe), Adam Blyth (Aus), Scott Laycock (Aus), Richie Ramsay, Gareth Maybin (N Ire), Phillip Price, Simon Khan, Taichiro Kiyota (Jpn), Anthony Kim (US), David McKenzie (Aus), Ian Poulter, Hyung-sung Kim (Kor).
69 – Michael Sim (Aus), Anton Haig (Rsa), Richie Gallichan (Aus), Tim Wood (Aus), Chih-bing Lam (Sin), Stuart Bouvier (Aus), Gary Lockerbie, Craig Scott (Aus), Richard Finch, Andre Stolz (Aus), Sam Little.
70 – David Smail (Nzl), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Stephen Leaney (Aus), Johan Edfors (Swe), Simon Wakefield, Anthony Wall, Niclas Fasth (Swe), Markus Brier (Aut), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Darren Beck (Aus), David Howell, Wayne Perske (Aus), Andrew Dodt (Aus), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Mark Brown (US), Peter Senior (Aus), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Seve Benson, Marcus Both (Aus), Sang-moon Bae (Kor), Iain Steel (Mal), Ross McGowan.
71 – Bryan Saltus (US), Robert Dinwiddie, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Won Joon Lee (Aus), Robert Rock, Tristan Lambert (Aus), Scott Barr (Aus), Marc Warren, Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi), Craig Parry (Aus), Michael Jonzon (Swe), Alastair Forsyth, Wade Ormsby (Aus), Miles Tunnicliff, Brad Kennedy (Aus), Ashley Hall (Aus), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Cameron Percy (Aus), Paul Casey, Brett Rumford (Aus), Stephen Dartnell (Aus), Rick Kulacz (Aus), Mark Foster, Paul Sheehan (Aus).
72 – Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Andrew Coltart, Anthony Summers (Aus), Marcel Siem (Ger), Ben Leong (Mal), Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Scott Drummond, Brad Lamb (Aus), Jason Knutzon (US), Adam Crawford (Aus), Oliver Fisher, Kane Webber (US), Alistair Presnell (Aus), Camilo Villegas (Col), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra).
73 – Simon Griffiths, David Frost (Rsa), Peter Hedblom (Swe), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Graeme Storm, Jason Scrivener (Aus), Matthew Millar (Aus), Pablo Martin (Spa), Matthew Griffin (Aus), Steve Webster, Nick Dougherty, Michael McGrath (Aus), Gary Murphy (Ire), Taco Remkes (Ned), James Kamte (Rsa), Gavin Flint (Aus), Peter O'Malley (Aus).
74 – Chris Downes (Aus), Ryan Haller (Aus), Scott Strange (Aus), Jarrod Moseley (Aus), Tae hee Lee (Kor), Michael Long (Nzl), Phillip Archer, Ryan Hammond (Aus), Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Richard Green (Aus), Gregory Bourdy (Fra).
75 – David Gleeson (Aus), Jamie Donaldson, Greg Norman (Aus), Heath Reed (Aus), Paul Broadhurst, Josh Geary (Nzl).
76 – Adam Bland (Aus), Angelo Que (Phi), Steven Bowditch (Aus).
77 – Aaron Townsend (Aus), Jason King (Aus), Ewan Porter (Aus), Anthony Brown (Aus), Rhys Davies, Chris Rodgers, Peter Fowler (Aus), Steve Jones (US).
78 – Shiv Kapur (Ind), Peter Wilson (Aus), Michael Moore (Aus).
80 – Terry Price (Aus).
DQ: Mitchell Brown (Aus)
