McDowell among leaders in Memphis

GOLF NEWS: PGA TOUR -Graeme McDowell was among a European charge on the opening day of the St Jude Classic in Memphis, though American Brian Gay was leading the field with five-under through 15 holes. Pádraig Harrington finished with a two-over 72, while playing partner Phil Mickelson finished two under.

McDowell bogeyed his first hole, the 10th, before picking up with four birdies on his back nine at TPC Southwind to finish on a four-under-par 66 in Tennessee.

Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal, playing on the PGA Tour for just the second time since April and without a win in the US for seven injury-hit years, also hit a 66 alongside Sweden’s Mathias Gronberg.

Olazabal (43), tied for 36th at last week’s Memorial on his return to the US for the first time since missing the cut at the US Masters in April and then tied for sixth at the Verizon Heritage.

He hit a bogey-free round that needed 27 putts, while Gronberg had just one bogey, at the par-four 12th, on his way to his 66.

Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson added his name to the leaderboard with a 67 while American Chris Stroud joined also took a share of the lead when he finished with a birdie at the ninth, while of his compatriots, Jerry Kelly, Vaughan Taylor and David Toms all closed with 67s, as did Robert Allenby of Australia. Rich Beem was also four under through 17 holes.

World number two Mickelson, returning to tournament play for the first time in a month since announcing his wife, Amy, is suffering from breast cancer, started impressively and finished with a two-under 68.

Mickelson had said he needed to return to competition to give himself a mental break from his family’s troubles as well as to get him in the groove ahead of next week’s US Open at Bethpage.

The only serious black mark on his round came at the par-four 18th, his ninth hole of the day, which he double bogeyed.

Harrington had a patchy round, finishing a two-over 72 as the British Open and US PGA champion continued his tune-up for Bethpage, hitting two birdies and four bogeys.

CHALLENGE TOUR -In his maiden Challenge Tour appearance of the season and on his first visit to the country, Sweden's Ake Nilsson showed a liking for Ireland by grabbing the lead on the opening day of the Challenge of Ireland presented by Moyvalley.

Having earned his European Tour card through the Qualifying School last November, Nilsson has struggled to make headway in The Race to Dubai this year.

But he restored some confidence with a fluent round of 67, at Moyvalley Hotel and Golf Resort in Co Kildare, to finish the day on five under par, one shot clear of a group of eight players which includes former Ryder Cup player Peter Baker, leading home hope Jonathan Caldwell, Robert Coles and Scotland’s Greig Hutcheon.

“I opened with a bogey, so my round didn’t get off to the best start,” said Nilsson. “But then I bounced back with a 30-foot putt for birdie on the second, which got me going.”

Another player hoping for brighter days after a difficult start to his maiden European Tour campaign is Caldwell, who like Nilsson also earned his card through the Qualifying School. Having largely ironed out the imperfections in his game and mastered some minor changes to his swing, the Ulsterman is now confident of kick-starting his season with an improved performance.

“My game’s slowly starting to come together now,” he said, “and my main aim over the next couple of weeks is to earn enough money to get into the Kazakhstan Open.”

In contrast, the ultra-consistent Coles has somewhat loftier ambitions, having powered his way to third place in the Challenge Tour rankings thanks largely to his recent victory in Morocco.

But the 36-year-old from Essex, who is yet to finish outside the top-20 in five starts this season, was almost forced to withdraw from the event after suffering a bout of food poison at the start of the week. “I was sick all day Monday, and then when I did make it out of bed on Tuesday, I was struggling to hit the ball,” explained Coles. “But I felt a bit better yesterday, so I decided to play – and I’m very glad I did.”

Baker, the Argentinian duo of Julian Etulain and Cesar Monasterio, Hutcheon, Germany’s Max Kramer and Norway’s Peter Kaensche made it an eight-way tie for second place.

AMATEUR -Irish teenage star Leona Maguire produced two performances out of the top drawer to coast into the third round – the last 16 – of the British Ladies Open Amateur championship in the North Wales sunshine yesterday.

The amazing 14-year-old twin from Slieve Russell in Cavan demolished her opponents, Emily Taylor from Royal Lytham and St Annes and French star Lucie Andre, the reigning Spanish Open champion.

She required only 27 holes to book her passage into round three, overcoming Taylor 5 and 4 and then thrashing Andre even more convincingly, 6 and 5.

In both matches Maguire, whose sister, Lisa, narrowly failed to make the matchplay stages, was five under par, and her victims finished much higher up the qualifiers than the Irish teenager.

The difference in two days came on the greens: yesterday she putted much better than in the qualifying phase and that helped her to control the matches.

Against Andre, the 2008 Irish champion was four up after five and lost only one hole, the eighth. She now faces Bristol’s Sian James, who knocked out 2008 semi-finalist Jacqueline Hedwall, for a place in the last eight.

Danielle McVeigh (21), the Curtis Cup reserve from Royal County Down, also earned her place in the third round with two splendid displays.

McVeigh defeated German Pia Halbig 3 and 2, then beat France’s Valentine Derrey, a former British Girls Open Championship finalist.

Derrey had put out Carlow’s Aedin Murphy 5 and 4 in the opening round in the morning.

McVeigh, who has her heart set on a place in the Vagliano Trophy Team to face Europe next month, was three up on Derrey after the eighth, which she eagled thanks to two brilliant three-wood shots.She now plays leading qualifier and 2007 champion Carlota Ciganda of Spain.