Laura Davies was far from pleased with a firstround 77 in the £100,000 Donegal Irish Women's Open here on the Glashedy Links yesterday. And it showed. Clearly, it wasn't her plan to concede nine strokes at this stage to the leader, Sophie Gustafson of Sweden, who shot an exemplary 68.

The favourite's torment was rendered all the more acute by the knowledge that she couldn't have wished for better weather. Under a bright sun, the delightful links was swept by a gentle breeze, prompting another Swede, Asa Gottmo, to remark: "This is the first time I've worn shorts in three months."

At first, Davies declined to comment. Later she said: "It was pathetic. Everything went wrong; nothing went right. I couldn't hit a fairway; I couldn't hit a green." It wasn't quite that bad, but we got the message.

Ireland's Aideen Rogers played considerably better than her celebrated rival, to the extent that a one-over-par 73 was decidedly disappointing. Rogers was two under par for the round with the prospect of another birdie at the long 17th, which was reachable in two. Instead, she finished doublebogey, bogey.

Two over par after seven, the 24-year-old birdied the eighth with a glorious eight-iron to two feet. And she completed a run of eight holes in four under par with further birdies at the 12th (eightfoot putt), 14th (eight-iron to two feet) and 15th (seven-footer).

Then came a hooked drive into heavy rough at the 17th where she also hooked a four-iron third shot into trouble before three-putting from the back of the green. And she went on to three-putt the last, leaving her first effort eight feet short and the second hanging tantalisingly on the lip.

"Without a sponsor, I badly need to make some money here," said Rogers, who has earned a modest £2,721 in five events this season. "Going into debt only puts me under greater pressure so I'm just playing the tournaments I can afford. I'd like to keep going but it's looking increasingly likely I will have to settle for teaching."

Compatriot Tracy Eakin, with £3,665 is also without sponsorship, apart from a Nissan car, but she seems to be coping better. And tee-to-green, she played beautifully for a 74 in which her three bogeys all resulted from threeputting.

Her lone birdie came at the long 17th which she reduced to a drive, three-iron and a chip to three feet. "I'm happy enough with my round," she said afterwards. "Now my target is a four-figure cheque which would easily guarantee exemption for next season."

None of the other three Irish challengers broke 80. And there was a perverse look to a round of 80 from Barbara Hackett in that the only time she broke par was with an eagle three at the 17th.

Given that the course was officially opened as recently as August 1995, it was in exemplary condition though the greens were somewhat slow for championship play. Against that background, Davies seemed to have talked herself into poor scoring through her negative comments on Wednesday.

She saw the course as extremely tight - and so it proved to be, even when she resorted to using a three-iron off the tee. So, wayward driving led to bogeys at the third, sixth and seventh before she ran up a triple-bogey seven at the 379yard eighth, where it took two whacks to extricate the ball from rough and two more to get it on the green.

Seven over for the round after the 12th, she rallied to birdie the long, 488-yard 13th which she reached with a six-iron second shot, the 131-yard 14th where a wedge was followed by a 25-foot putt and the 542-yard 17th which she reached with an eight-iron second.

Gustafson, tall and athletically built, used her striking power to splendid advantage in a round that contained five birdies. Her lone bogey was at the 18th, where she failed to get up and down from off the back, but generally her short game was admirably sharp.

"I like the course very much," said the 24-year-old Swede who was one of Pia Nilsson's five selections on the Solheim Cup team to meet the US at Muirfield Village on September 18th to 20th. "Making the Solheim team has great for my confidence and I'm really looking forward to the match."

Her closest challengers on 70 are Gottmo, runner-up to Davies in this championship at St Margaret's in 1995, and the experienced American Susan Moon. They might have been joined by Scotland's Myra Murray, but after turning two under, she had a wretched homeward journey of 44, including an eight at the long 13th, where she took five to get down from a bunker off the back of the green.

Ireland's Keith Nolan produced an excellent two-under par 69 in the opening round of the Greater Milwaukee Open yesterday.

The Bray golfer trails leader Loren Roberts by seven shots, as the American blasted a staggering nine-under-par 62.

Richard Coughlan of Birr is likely to struggle to make the cut after slipping to a 73, two over the card.

The former Leinster interprovincial Seamus McParland and his partner Celine Griffin completed a relatively comfortable victory for Greenore in the semi-finals of the mixed foursomes championship at Bangor yesterday.