Inspired by events at Royal Lytham, Bernard Gallacher has become a delighted convert to the broomhandle putter. And for a player once envied for his short-game skills, the reward was a two-under-par 69, leaving him only one stroke off the lead after the first round of the £500,000 sterling Senior British Open at Royal Co Down yesterday.

"When I saw the way Ian Woosnam and Bernhard Langer used the big putter in the Open last weekend, I simply had to go back to it," said the former Ryder Cup skipper, who tried it in two tournaments last year. "I knew the other pros were nodding their heads and mumbling, 'He's a goner', but I can live with that."

It was an occasion when tradition seemed to be more important than usual, with the Big Three of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player in action. But Gallacher, in the same three-ball as Player, argued: "For me, the traditions are about the rules and the etiquette of the game, not about the equipment."

John Bland, as a three-time runner-up in this event, could reasonably argue that he is due a breakthrough. Either way, he and Denis Durnian are top of the leaderboard having carded three-under-par rounds of 68 by lunchtime.

And Nicklaus, another early starter, shot 70.

But two legends suffered in the sun. A bogey at the last meant that Palmer carded a miserable 84, one stroke more than Tony Jacklin in the following three-ball. But the great Arnie remained unbowed. "It hurts when you play as poorly as this, but I enjoyed the course and I enjoyed the day," he said.

Player, on the other hand, remains unconquerable, at 65. Having started with an eagle three, as Nicklaus did, he displayed some wonderful touches around the greens on the way to a one-over-par 72. "It was a pleasure to play my first five or six holes in about eight weeks," he said of a level-par inward journey of 36.

The 502-yard first, which quite a few players reached with a long iron, offered the most gentle of opening challenges. Indeed American Tommy Price had the effrontery to hole out a three-wood second shot for an albatross two en route to a 73.

Meanwhile, time of day took on special significance when a gentle breeze from the north west strengthened appreciably in the afternoon, by which stage it had become south-easterly. So, as in the Open at Lytham, the bunkers, all 129 of them, became increasingly intrusive.

Even Nicklaus was fooled. Taking a four-wood off the 17th tee to avoid the pond 260 yards out, he hadn't reckoned with two, unseen bunkers, tucked into the right edge of the fairway. And a visit to one of them cost the great man a bogey.

"That was a mental error," he said, clearly annoyed with himself. But there was compensation in the way he played the long 18th. Selecting a four-iron off the tee and a five-iron second shot to avoid sand, he hooded the face of a six-iron, moved the ball back in his stance and played a glorious, 166-yard shot into the breeze to within 18 feet of the pin.

The putt didn't drop, but it was a nice way to finish. "It's not a bad score," he said, "and I really enjoyed the course and the reception from the gallery. The fun of seaside golf was trying to punch the ball, squirt the ball, run it, hook it, cut it or hit it up in the air. And the six-iron on the 18th was a trapped shot which I played very nicely. It was a very nice shot."

In those words, we could sense how magnetic the competitive scene remains for him, despite all the aches and pains of a 61-year-old body. And it retains a similar attraction for 65-year-old Bob Charles who, with a 69, had the distinction of being the only player in the field to birdie both the 17th and 18th.

Bland, who was runner-up to Player after sudden-death in 1997, missed out again on his next visit to Royal Portrush in 1999, when Christy O'Connor Jnr captured the title. And O'Connor pushed him into second place once more here last year.

"The course is in magnificent condition," said the South African, who started with an eagle en route to an outward 31.

In O'Connor's absence, the Irish challenge was pretty thin, with Kenny Stevenson leading on 72. But the Ulsterman looked set to be among the leaders when he stood three under par with six to play. From there, however, he carded four bogeys, the most disappointing being a bad three-putt five at the 276-yard 16th.