It stood apart on the scoreboard, a shining testament of skill, power and, of all things, a new golf ball. The day's only eagle three on the 18th came midway through a round of 67 for Colin Montgomerie, giving him a share of the first round lead here in the £1.5 million Smurfit European Open.

The remarkable Massimo Scarpa had set this pre-lunch target which others out on the course seemed set to surpass. But a greatly-improved layout stood firmly against all assaults. And it can now be said that after a painfully long development period of nine years, The K Club's time has come.

Not only did the course play as well at it looked: a clever re-routing looked so seamless that one might have imagined it as the original layout. Indeed it may not be too long before we forget how the course was once played, as in the case with Valderrama, which switched its nines some years ago.

As it happened, Paul McGinley, the venue's touring professional, had a significant input into these changes, especially the new, back tee at the 17th. And he seemed to cope admirably when, as one of the later finishers, he matched the best Irish score of 69 from Philip Walton earlier in the day.

"It's only a matter of time before one of us wins a tournament on home soil," he said afterwards. Then, in a reference to last week's Murphy's Irish Open at Ballybunion where he shared third place, he added: "I'm certainly pleased to be part of these two weeks which are showing off the best of Irish golf."

Given that the strength of his game was admirably precise iron play, it was ironic that McGinley should have run up a double-bogey at the sixth, where his five-iron approach found water off an awkward lie. But there was more than ample compensation in five birdies, including one at the last, where he wedged to a foot.

But to Monty's eagle: into a gentle breeze, the Scot faced a second-shot of 265 yards to the flag at the 537-yard final hole, where water beckons on the left. "I wouldn't have gone for the shot but for the new ball," he said, in a reference to the new, red Callaway which he was playing for the first time.

In the event, the three-wood was given the full treatment, as Montgomerie put it "the absolute max." And it almost resulted in an albatross as the ball slid past the hole before coming to rest 10 feet away. As is the way of gifted players, he then rolled in the putt for an eagle which was then followed by four successive birdies from the first, his 10th.

"It provided undeniable proof that the greatest development in golf equipment over the last 20 years has been with the ball," said Montgomerie. He reckoned the new ball was giving him an additional 20 yards and in combination with the controversial ERC driver, which is banned in the US but legal in Europe, he could count on doubling that advantage.

Though he practised with the ERC here on Wednesday, he declined to use it yesterday but hinted that it may be in his bag for the British Open at St Andrews, where the targets off the tee are a lot more generous.

Meanwhile, Thomas Bjorn discovered one of the many areas of grief which seem to be cropping up with greater frequency, now that the course has been tightened considerably off the tee. Ironically, the Dane's problems arose at the par-three 14th where he blocked his tee-shot into a hedge.

On the tee, he was five under par for the round and with the prospect of more to come over the remaining five holes. Instead, he ran up a wretched, triple-bogey six at the 14th where he took four to get on the green. And three-putts at the next sent him back among the pack.

Looking at the practice ground at Ballybunion last Saturday and Sunday, there was a temptation to talk about the blind leading the blind as Seve Ballesteros attempted to sort out the swing problems of Sandy Lyle. On yesterday's evidence, it seems that the Spaniard is, in fact, capable of helping others, but not himself.

Starting on the 10th (the old first), Ballesteros hooked his drive over the wall and out of bounds to set-off with a double-bogey seven, which led ultimately to an 82. Lyle, on the other hand had a highly acceptable 71, despite a bogey on the 17th. "Having worked with him, I'm sad for Seve," said Lyle. "But I must admit I'm thankful to be the one who fared better."

Scarpa seems to like it here. The slightly-built Italian, who covered seven holes in a sizzling 20 strokes at Ballybunion last week, had seven birdies and only two bogeys in a fine 67. And as usual, he did it while carrying four wedges, two of them right-handed models and two left-handed ones.

"I started off playing golf left-handed but changed when I was 14 after being told I hadn't the strength to play that way," he said. "But the sort game became a problem for me. So I have two left-handed wedges. - one of 50 degrees and the other 56 degrees. I think I could still break 80 playing left-handed; better if I practised."