Mortimer, Elliot lead qualifying on day one

QUALIFYING SCHOOL: Ireland's David Mortimer and Northern Ireland's Ricky Elliot grabbed a share of the lead after yesterday's first round of the European Tour's qualifying school's first stage over the St Annes Old Links.

The pair scorched around in seven-under-par 65s to top the leaderboard with Brian Akstrup of Denmark and Scottish amateur Graeme Browm.

And Galway amateur Mark O'Sullivan and Alan Murray were just a shot back.

At Carden Park, Leslie Walker and Jimmy Bolger fired four-under-par 68s to be just a shot off the lead.

While the respective tournament leaders had an opening day to remember, the opposite was the case for the unfortunate Matteo Verardo, who began his quest with a one-over-par 73 at Circolo Golf Bogogno, a score not helped by a bizarre incident on the 15th hole.

After playing his approach shot, the 26-year-old Italian lost control of his motorised trolley and could only look on in horror as it sped off across the fairway and disappeared into an adjacent lake.

With the Rules of Golf forbidding the use of a replacement set of clubs, Verardo had no option but to strip off and wade into the water up to his neck to retrieve his sodden equipment.

Waiting officials were on hand with towels rushed out from the clubhouse, but, unfortunately for Verardo, they were also on hand with a two-shot penalty for causing an undue delay in play, turning the Italian's original par five on the hole into a double bogey seven.

In total, 707 golfers began the quest for a place on The 2006 European Tour. All will play three rounds before the cut falls tomorrow night, the players eligible for the final round being all those within eight shots of the qualification mark at the time.

At Chart Hills and Carden Park the top 23 and ties go through, while at St Annes Old Links the top 22 and ties qualify.

At ST ANNES - Leading scores: 65 (-7) - B Akstrup (Den), G Brown (am) (Scot), D Mortimer (Ire), R Elliott (NIre). 66 - M O'Sullivan (am) (Ire), A Murray (Ire), M Nesbit (Eng), G Hamerton (Eng). 67 - C Aronsen (Nor), N Kraaij (Neth), G Van der Valk (Neth), T Andersen (Den), J Parron (Spa), M McGeady (am) (Ire), A Claesson (Swe), A Claesson (Swe). Other Irish: 68 - D Crowe (am) (NIre), S McTernan (AM) (Ire), E Brady (Ire), M Murphy (Ire). 69 - N Fox (Ire), PT Martin (Ire). 70 - J Kelly (Ire). 71 - D Sugrue (Ire), 72 - S Franklin (Ire), M Campbell (am) (Ire), B Trainor (am) (NIre). 75 - C Mallon (Ire), M Lavelle (am) (Ire). 77 - K McGrath (Ire).

At CARDEN PARK - Leading scores: 67 (-5) - S Henderson (Scot), G Lockerbie (Eng). 68 - N Reilly (Eng), L Walker (Ire), J Bolger (Ire), E Williams (Wal), I Parnaby (am) (Eng). 69 - R Tipping (Rsa), N Gyllengahm (Swe), C Trunzer (am) (Ger), B Taylor (Eng), R Miller (Neth), I Taylor (Wal), DR James (Eng), C Billing (Eng). Other Irish: 71 - G Bowden (am) (Ire), Chris Moriarty (NIre), D Mooney (NIre), P Dooley (Ire). 72 - G McNeill (Ire), J Kehoe (Ire), DP Jones (Ire), M McDErmott (Ire). 73 - P McDonald (am) (Ire), M Owens (am) (Ire). 74 - M Collins (Ire), R Burns (NIre), P Williamson (Ire), 78 - J Dwyer (Ire), T Higgins (Ire). 80 - A Thomas (Ire).

At CHART HILLS - Leading Scores: 64 - M Millar (Aus). 65 - C Harmston (am (Eng). 66 - K Staunton (Eng), I Hutchings (Rsa), A Matthews (US), W Yanagisawa (US), T Milford (Eng). 67 - M Mezei (Can), J Kavanagh (Eng), L Corfield (Eng), C Nilsson (Swe), A Michel (Rsa), J Hoskison (Eng), M Ford (Eng), A Mellor (Eng), B St John (Eng). Irish: 70 - F Madden.

At GOLF DE MOLIETS (France) - Leading scores: 65 - (-7) C Brazillier (Fra), J Grillon (am) (Fra). 67 - J Garrido (Col), S Son-Houi (Fra). 68 - R Guillard (Fra), JM De Polo (Fra), H Santos (Por), M Jurgensen (Den), J Quesne (Fra), F Gomez (Arg), J Guerrier (am) (Fra).

At GOLF-UND LAND-CLUB (Cologne, Germany) - Leading scores: 67 (-5) - MA Carlsson (Swe), R De Sousa (Swi), P Erofejeff (Fin), M Kaymer (am) (Ger). 68 - SJ Hansen (Den), L Pettersson (Swe), D Jonsson (Swe). 69 - M Hedegaard (Den), R Wiederkehr.

At CIRCOLO GOLF BOGOGNO (Italy) - Leading scores: 68 (-4) - M Dieu (Fra). 69 - F Orest (Swe), M Manerus (Fin), T Gögele (Ger), T Edlund (Swe), C Nilsson (Swe), A Andersson (Swe), A Turner (Eng), A Sjöstrand (Swe), A Haig (Rsa), C Del Moral (Spa).

PRESIDENTS CUP: With its global reach and stronger line-ups, the Presidents Cup can replace the Ryder Cup as golf's most prestigious team competition, according to rival captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.

"I think that the potential of the Presidents Cup to be greater than the Ryder Cup is there, simply because the scope is larger," Nicklaus yesterday as his team practised for their clash with the International team, which starts tomorrow.

"You look at the players that are in the event and I think there are probably more good players in the Presidents Cup as it relates to world rankings than probably if you played the Ryder Cup," he said at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course in northern Virginia.

SENIOR WOMEN: Mary McKenna stayed in touch with the pacemakers in the first round of the Senior Women's British Open Amateur Championship at Newport, South Wales, yesterday. She is five strokes behind Rozalyn Adams.

McKenna went out in 34, two-under-par, with three birdies and one bogey, but she tired on the back nine and took 44 for a 78.

WORLD CUP: World number 14 Luke Donald has chosen fellow Ryder Cup player David Howell as his partner for England's World Cup title defence in Portugal.

Ireland's representatives are expected to be Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley, who has moved up to 29th on the world ranking. The pair won the title in 1997 at Kiawah Island.