Forsyth saga is history

GOLF/SOUTH AFRICAN OPEN: Scotland's Alastair Forsyth made a flying start in his bid to regain the European Tour card he lost in controversial circumstances last year in the Bell's South African Open yesterday.

Forsyth fired a first round six-under-par 66 at Durban Country Club to lie just two shots behind leader Carl Pettersson of Sweden in a six-way tie for second place alongside England's Andrew Butterfield and South African quartet Des Terblanche, Ashley Roestoff, James Kingston and Tim Clark.

Forsyth is playing the £500,000 sterling event on an invite after missing out on his card by just one place on the Order of Merit last year.

Sergio Garcia was included on the money list despite only playing in 10 events - one less than the minimum requirement for membership - but was credited with 11 due to the cancellation of the American Express Championships in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks.

If Garcia had not been included in the money list Forsyth would have moved up to the 115th and final qualifying spot, but the European Tour refused to exclude the Spaniard and instead reached a compromise with Forsyth and his manager Ian Doyle, who had threatened legal action.

Forsyth has been guaranteed 26 starts this season on a mixture of invites and his ranking, and could render the whole saga irrelevant with a win on Sunday.

"We were all very happy with the way it turned out," said the 25-year-old from Glasgow.

"I played a lot better today than I did at the end of last year. I worked a lot over the winter - only on the driving range at Hamilton because of the weather - with Ian Rae my coach.

"We've been working on getting the club going straight up and down again. At times last year it was very bad and I hit a lot of bad shots."

The big freeze did little to affect Paul Lawrie's preparations, however, and the former British Open champion revealed his secret to beating the cold after a 68.

"A good start for me after two months at home in the snow," said Lawrie. "I have not played at all but hit a lot of balls. I've got a room in my house where I can hit balls and a putting green indoors as well.

"The room has a mat, a net and cameras so the weather doesn't affect me and I feel as if I've never been away really."

European number one Retief Goosen was just three shots off the pace after an error-free 67, the US Open champion feeling refreshed after turning down $150,000 to play in Tiger Woods' invitational event in favour of a much-needed rest.

Goosen added: "I played pretty terribly today. I had 24 putts in a 67 so had to scramble a bit. I had 10 putts in nine holes on the front nine and I don't know if I've done that before."

Goosen's World Cup-winning team-mate Ernie Els would have happily settled for anything like that after struggling to a one-over-par 73.