Ryder Cup to the fore at Wales Open

The Ryder Cup continued to dominate the agenda at the Wales Open, even though none of the four European team members competing at Celtic Manor featured high on the leaderboard.

Jamie Donaldson's one under par 70 left him five shots off the lead held by the Netherlands' Joost Luiten, with Thomas Bjorn level par, Lee Westwood two over and Stephen Gallacher failing to make a birdie in a disappointing 78.

Luiten, considered for a wild card by European captain Paul McGinley, held a one-shot lead over Scotland's Andrew McArthur and former Ryder Cup player Nicolas Colsaerts who carded eight birdies and an eagle in a four-ball win with Westwood at Medinah in 2012.

Colsaerts was one over par after seven holes of his round but then made an eagle on the 18th after his massive drive left him with just a wedge into the green on the 575-yard par five.

Gallacher has not played since coming close to securing an automatic qualifying place in the Italian Open and admitted his performance had not come as a complete surprise.

“I did half expect it,” said the 39-year-old, “Generally, if I’ve got something to play for I’ll play pretty well. When I go through the motions I’m useless. All eyes are on next week and it’s hard to put it out of my mind when I’m already in.”

Playing partner Bjorn, who birdied two of his last four holes, gave Gallacher a vote of confidence: “I wouldn’t be worried by what he did today. He’s . . . so much looking forward to it.

Westwood has also been out of action since failing to advance beyond the first FedEx Cup play-off event: “I was basically just rusty . . . This week’s all about just getting competitive again really . . . I like to be competitive. It’s serving its purpose this week.”

Best of the Irish representatives was Offaly man Shane Lowry who finished three shots off Luiten's lead.