GOLF European OpenIf the impromptu nip-'n'-tuck surgery that was carried out on the Smurfit Course was forced on tournament organisers by the weather, reducing the length of the layout by 653 yards and so transforming it from a potentially fearsome beast into a much tamer animal, at least it was productive and enabled yesterday's first round of the Smurfit Kappa European Open to be completed without any undue fuss, writes Philip Reidat The K Club

The upshot, though, on a course shortened by two strokes to one that became a par 70 of just 6,660 yards, was that a somewhat unlikely leaderboard - minus the €3.6 million tournament's two star billings, Europe's number one Padraig Harrington and US Open champion Angel Cabrera, who each finished the day some way off the pace - materialised, with Dutchman Maarten Lafeber assuming the first-round lead after an opening 64, six-under.

Before the first shot of yesterday's first round had been hit in anger, the course had been changed from the one that players had become familiar with in practice.

The most drastic action forced on tournament director David Garland was to make the 18th a par three instead of a par five, due to the lay-up area on the fairway being saturated from weeks of incessant rain. The hole was shortened by 416 yards, from its normal 578 yards to one of just 162 yards.

In all, the tees were moved forward on seven holes - the first, third, fifth, seventh, 10th, 16th and 18th - to make it playable; and, while the 18th will again play as a par three in today's second round, it is expected to be given back its bite for the weekend, with more favourable weather conditions allowing it to become a par five again.

Still and all, nobody could argue with the necessity of implementing preferred lies on the fairways or with the changes to the course yesterday when almost 23,000 spectators availed of the Ulster Bank free entry initiative and braved the mix of rain and wind to provide some atmosphere around the undulating terrain, even if, afterwards, the spectator walkways (which had been laid with almost 100 tonnes of wood bark for safety reasons) looked as if they had held a motor scrambling contest.

Lafeber, whose one and only tournament win came in the Dutch Open in 2003 but who has shown some decent form of late, including a fourth-place finish in the BMW International a fortnight ago, finished up with a one-stroke lead over in-form Swede Niclas Fasth, England's Robert Rock, India's Jyoti Randhawa and Frenchman Gregory Havret. Defending champion Stephen Dodd was among a trio of players a shot further back, in tied-sixth.

But there was not much satisfaction for either Harrington or Cabrera, both of whom signed for 71s, one over. Yet, the two contrived to produce those scores in vastly contrasting manners, Harrington - who was two under after 12 holes - contriving to drop shots late on, including a late double bogey on the 16th, while Cabrera was three-over after four holes only to respond by hitting five birdies in the next seven holes and then undo his good work with a finish that included bogeys on the 16th and 17th.

"No, I'm not too happy. I hit some poor shots, just hit the ball badly," confessed Cabrera, golf's newest major champion, of his day's work. Still, the Argentine will remember this as the first occasion that he walked to the first tee of a round as the US Open champion, and he received a very generous welcome from the crowds. "I'm a human being, and when people cheer for me, I feel great," he said.

For Harrington, there was not much solace. On Tuesday evening, in practice, he drove off the 18th hole and afterwards noticed the shaft on his driver was slightly damaged. Unsure if he could use it in competition, he decided to switch to a new driver for the tournament and felt uncomfortable throughout his round, estimating he lost up to 20 yards. He also only hit six of 13 fairways and just nine greens in regulation.

"It normally takes me a while to get any driver that is suitable, but I used it in the pro-am and thought it would be okay. But the grip is a little weak and that is probably why I was spinning the ball heavily in the wind," said Harrington, who, nevertheless, was two under after 12 holes before bogeying the 14th and then incurring a double bogey on the 16th when, playing a seven-iron second shot from the rough, his approach came up and short and finished in the pond that guards the green.

That double bogey was a body blow. "At no stage of the round was I unhappy with my score, until 16. I was in the rough (off the tee), but it wasn't a big decision to go for the green. It wasn't even an issue for me not to and I was shocked when it went in the water . . . but seven shots behind is not the end of the world. I would like to have played better and I need to play better (to contend)," said Harrington.

He could do worse than to take a leaf out of Lafeber's book. The Dutchman's round featured six birdies and not a single dropped shot. He hit 14 greens in regulation and took just 27 putts. All in all, it was a good day's work; and especially so considering he had toyed with the idea of withdrawing earlier in the week due to a knee injury. Lafeber described yesterday's round as "a grind", and he knows that more hard work lies ahead if he is to hold off the chasing pack.