Gronberg breezes into lead with 68

In high winds and low temperatures, Mathias Gronberg had the effrontery to birdie two of the toughest holes on the course, when taking the first round lead on 68 in the £1.5 million Smurfit European Open yesterday. His achievement was placed in perspective by Darren Clarke's caddie, Billy Foster, who observed: "If Birkdale on the Saturday was a 10 out of 10, this was certainly an eight."

With only 21 players shooting par or better, Clarke was well pleased with a 69 which had given him the lead earlier in the day. In the process, he matched the standards of the great Ben Hogan by playing three particular shots, exactly as he envisioned them. That was the yardstick by which Hogan measured a satisfactory round.

Christy O'Connor Jnr, aged 50 years and one day, shot a highly acceptable 74. But from an Irish perspective, Clarke's effort seemed likely to be eclipsed by Padraig Harrington who went to four-under-par after a stunning, mid-round run of birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie, only to be forced to settle for a 71.

There was further spectacle from England's Jim Payne who carded two eagles, one of which was an ace at the short fourth. Scotland's Dean Robertson also had a hole-in-one, at the 12th.

Their reward? A magnum of champagne each. But had either of them the good sense to reserve the spectacle for the short 17th, he would have driven away with a Renault Scenic Megane.

It wasn't a day, however, when players could perform to order. Foster, acknowledged as one of the most accomplished caddies on the tour, made the simple point that tournament players don't often have to hit long irons to par fours. "The only tougher conditions we have had this year were on the Saturday of the British Open," he said.

David Carter, the Murphy's Irish Open champion, shot a 74 which caused him to remark ruefully: "If you miss the fairway you're dead. I learned that at the first, where all I could do was chip back into play. "Take two double-bogeys away and I had a good round," was how Payne Stewart rationalised a dispiriting 77. Then there was Per-Ulrik Johansson, the winner for the last two years, attempting to come to terms with a crushing 83. "I don't know what went wrong; the problem wasn't obvious," said the bemused Swede.

With the 538-yard 18th playing directly downwind - Harrington was four feet from the pin with a four-iron second shot - pars there came as something of a disappointment. But after starting on the 10th, an eagle-three failed to lift Lee Westwood who went on to double-bogey the seventh and bogey the eighth on the way to a 77.

Perhaps Nick Faldo was right in Wednesday's remarks from the US. Perhaps the standard is lower over here. But Clarke doesn't think so. In fact he believes Faldo could be in for a rude awakening when he attempts to revitalise an ailing career in a return to Europe, starting next week.

"There's been a marked improvement at the top end of the Order of Merit," he said. "A few years ago, maybe only six or seven players could win tournaments on a regular basis, but that number has now grown to 15 or 16. The time is gone when Americans could come to Europe for easy pickings."

The truth is that the 21 players who shot par or better yesterday, did so on a relentlessly demanding course. Clarke didn't hold back on the three-iron second shot he needed to reach the green at the 446-yard sixth. Gronberg birdied that hole with a four-iron approach and went on to give a driver and four iron the full treatment when getting to within 10 feet of the flag at the 416-yard 14th.

Clarke, who started on the 10th, had his three perfect shots in the Hogan mould, on the front nine after reaching the turn one-under. Assessing them he said: "The first was a cut eight-iron, across wind at the third (173 yards). Then there was a 134-yard wedge downwind which I stopped six feet from the green at the fourth. And the third one was a 133-yard seven iron, off the bottom of the grip, which I punched into the wind at the long seventh, to finish six feet past the pin."

Interestingly, only one of those shots delivered a birdie - at the fourth. For the last birdie of the round, he had to rely on a huge putt of 60 feet at the sixth. "After working with my coach, Pete Cowen, my bad shots are now going to the right, which I can handle," he said.

Clarke went on: "I didn't play my best golf today but I played sensibly. In a way, I ground out my score and I'm pleased with the way I coped." As a native of Dungannon and familiar with Omagh and its environs, he was also pleased that competitors were wearing black ribbons.

"In our own small way, we were trying to show the people of Omagh that we're thinking of them after what I could only describe as a national disaster," he said.

On the advice of his coach, Colin Montgomerie was aiming left "for the first time in two years" when he went to the top of the leaderboard on two under par with six holes to play. But those holes happened to be on the more difficult front nine where he proceeded to bogey the fourth, fifth and seventh. "I could have done without a gale-force wind in trying something new," was his caustic comment on a 73.

Given Johansson's torment, it is as if the other Swedes are determined to keep their flag flying. For instance, Jarmo Sandelin, who was four over par after 11, covered the last six holes in four under par for an improbable 72. And Gronberg made nonsense of a decidedly uninspiring start to the year when he missed five cuts in the opening seven tournaments.

"I owe this form to a golfing holiday in New Jersey with my American girlfriend Tara," said the 28-year-old winner of the 1995 European Masters. With six birdies on his card, he went on: "Normally I find this a very hard course to play but I wasn't intimidated by the water today. In fact I have been happy with my golf since I got engaged last May."

On a tough day, it was a rare expression of self-satisfaction.