Golf Digest/ EUROPEAN TOUR: Twice former champion Robert Allenby fired a five-under-par 67 to lead the Australian Masters first round in Melbourne yesterday as Rory McIlroy and Damien McGrane recorded 70 and 72 respectively.
Allenby, who won the title in 2003 and 2005, carded six birdies and a single bogey to finish the opening round a shot clear of England's Peter Baker and Swede Fredrik Andersson Hed, who shot rounds of 68.
Baker made a flying start, making five birdies between the second and ninth holes, but did not pick up a shot on the back nine, while Hed made an eagle at the first and birdied three of his last four holes.
A group of six players, including Australian Stuart Appleby, New Zealand's Michael Long and Sweden's Daniel Chopra, were tied in fourth place on three-under-par 69.
Allenby could not have made a better start, picking up shots on four of the first holes.
He dropped a shot on the way home but picked up another two to enter the clubhouse as the outright leader.
McIlroy fired three birdies in four holes from the fifth before dropping his only shot at the ninth, while McGrane mixed three birdies with three bogeys in halves of 35 and 37.
Selected first round scores
( Irish in bold, British unless stated, par 72)
67- R Allenby (Aus); 68- F Andersson Hed (Swe), P Baker; 69- P Marantz (Aus), R Pampling (Aus), D Chopra (Swe), M Long (Nzl), K Barnes (Aus), S Appleby (Aus); 70- A Tampion (Aus), S Leaney (Aus), D Kinney (Aus), Rory McIlroy, A Black (Aus), L Hickmott (Aus), M Zions (Aus), S Strange (Aus), R Davies, N Flanagan (Aus), P Lonard (Aus), A Baddeley (Aus), M Ecob (Aus), R Finch, S Furneaux (Aus), E Porter (Aus), R Kulacz (Aus), R Hodgetts (Rsa); 71- P Spargo (Aus), M Pearce (Nzl), M Campbell (Nzl), M Brennan (Aus), A Summers (Aus), S Manley, T Wood (Aus), T Pilkadaris (Aus), M Vibe-Hastrup (Den), T Carolan (Aus), A Presnell (Aus), C Phadungsil (Tha), E Rush; 72 - Damien McGrane, C Downes (Aus), L Jensen (Den), N Stivala (Aus), D Diaz (Aus), J Carmichael (Aus), B Wharton (Aus), A Noren (Swe), S Baxter (Aus), T Price (Aus), P Wilson (Aus), M Fraser (Aus), M Persson (Swe), J Zapata (Arg), P Senior (Aus), A Crawford (Aus), R Green (Aus), G Flint (Aus), P Sheehan (Aus), M Light (Aus), P O'Malley (Aus).
SENIORS: Jimmy Heggarty claimed his tour card as England's Bob Larratt came top of the class at the European Seniors Tour Qualifying School Finals to head 17 graduates to the 2008 Seniors Tour.
The 54-year-old will join the likes of Carl Mason, Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam on next year's Seniors Tour after finishing two strokes clear of countryman John Hoskison at the Pestana Golf Resort on the Algarve in Portugal on three-under-par 281.
Another English duo - Jeff Hall and Ian Mosey - as well as Northern Ireland's Heggarty, who shot 72, 69, 72 and 71, shared third place on level par after 284.
Larratt produced a final round of one-under-par 70 on the Pinta Course to record his three under winning total.
"I'm delighted after a very long week," said Larratt. "I have qualified twice for the Seniors Tour via the Qualifying School but to win it is pretty special. The other two times I qualified I finished eighth but winning will give me a full playing schedule next year, which is great."
AMATEUR: The R&A have awarded Portmarnock Golf Club the 2011 Jacques Legalise Trophy. The British Boys Amateur Championship goes to Burnham & Berrow Golf Club, Somerset, England, while the Boys Home Internationals will be played at Royal St David's Golf Club, Gwynedd, Wales.
Portmarnock's famous links, located just north of Dublin, was the venue for the 1991 Walker Cup and hosted the Boys Home Internationals in 2000.
The Championship Course at Burnham & Berrow hosted The Jacques Leglise Trophy in 1999, while Royal St David's was the venue for the 1999 Boys Amateur Championship and the 1994 Youth's Amateur Championship.
