FOR a man who was on his sick bed battling pneumonia a mere two months ago, Noel Ratcliffe did more than defy the odds when the AIB Irish Seniors Open began in windy conditions at St Margaret's yesterday. Indeed, his opening round of six-under-par 66 effectively gave him a four-shot start on the field in this 54-hole tournament which carries a prize fund of £75,000.
In all, 10 players managed to break the course's par of 72, a fair enough representation given the restricted 44 field and, also, the presence of a stiff easterly wind and greens which hardened as the day progressed due to heavy traffic. Typically, though, Tommy Horton was one of those who dipped into red figures, maintaining a menacing threat to the overnight leader.
It wasn't a particularly good day for the Irish quartet, however. Liam Higgins, who shot a two-over-par 74, emerged as the principal home challenger, with Michael Murphy a shot further back on 75.
But Christy O'Connor Snr endured a rather horrific start and was seven over par after eight holes, before steadying the ship for a 79, and Dr Arthur Spring finished on 81. Tony Jacklin, meanwhile, struggling to shake off a nagging cold, shot a 74.
Ratcliffe, in contrast, could do little wrong - especially with his seven-iron which acted like a magic wand for numerous approach shots in compiling a 66 which gave him a four shot lead over nearest pursuers Maurice Bembridge and Antonio Garrido, with a posse of seven players, including Horton, on the 71 mark.
"I had to take a month off in March when I contracted pneumonia in the United States, and the last five weeks have been terrible. I lost a lot of my strength and have had to work enormously hard on my game. But, thankfully, I have now started to get answers for all that work," said Ratcliffe.
He is no stranger to adversity. The Australian's career on the full European Tour was curtailed by back problems, and he has also suffered damage to knee and ribs in water skiing accidents.
Yesterday, however, he enjoyed a fine round on a course actually playing longer than its 6,555 yards because of the lack of run on the ball; indeed, a number of players including Higgins, commented that the ball was picking up mud.
Ratcliffe started his round at the 10th with a bogey, but he picked up birdies at the 13th, firing in a seven-iron approach to 12 feet, the 15th, again using a seven- iron approach, and the 17th.
That seven-iron - Funnily, it never was my favourite club, but it is now," he quipped - was used again at the first, to 18 inches, and the second, to four feet, for further birdies. He two-putted for another birdie at the par five third and, after bogeying the fourth, used his new favourite club to set up another birdie at the seventh, before claiming his eighth birdie of the day at the eighth.
"It's a nice feeling to be leading, but there is a long way to go yet," said a pragmatic Ratcliffe.
Bembridge, alongside Garrido on 70, may have surprised himself by shooting such a score - "It's a long, long course, too long for me. It favours long hitters," he remarked but he still professed himself to be "very satisfied" and spent an hour on the practice green afterwards to fine tune one or two things.
The greens could yet prove to be a key factor. Horton, in the last group of players (yesterday's first round was played in conjunction with a corporate pro-am which was won by John Fourie's team on 16 under par), said: "It was a bit of a struggle on the greens, especially coming at the end of the field after another 170 players had been on them. But I hit the ball well and my new driver is working well. I'm looking forward to the weekend."
