TWICE EUROPEAN PGA champion Anders Hansen finished strongly to take the lead with a seven-under-par 65 in the first round of the European Open yesterday.
The 38-year-old Dane, who started at the 10th hole, picked up five birdies in a faultless effort before vaulting to the top of the leaderboard by chipping in for an eagle three at the par-five eighth in warm, still conditions at the London Club in Kent.
Sweden’s Peter Hanson, brimming with confidence after a hole-in-one in US Open qualifying this week, was in joint-second place on 66 alongside South African Thomas Aiken, Jyoti Randhawa of India and Briton Sam Little.
World number four Sergio Garcia fought back from a first-hole double bogey to post a 69, but fifth-ranked Henrik Stenson slid to a four-over 76.
Hansen, teeing off late in the day, made the perfect start when he holed out from 25 feet for a birdie at the 10th. The 2007 and 2002 PGA champion also rolled in a 40-footer at the 17th but the highlight was his eagle.
“I hit a pretty good drive down the right, then hit it just short of the green,” said Hansen. “It was quite a tricky chip because we were on the left side and the pin was short left so we were unsure if we could get enough check on the ball to stop it. But I hit it beautifully from about 15 yards.”
Hanson said he was high on self-belief after claiming the 11th and final international qualifying spot at Walton Heath when his six-iron went straight into the cup from 202 yards to book his ticket for next month’s US Open.
“That ace on Monday was an enormous boost,” he said. “You get a confidence boost, not only from that but because everybody is congratulating you and saying well done.
“It was one of those surreal moments . . . like knocking in that last penalty in a World Cup match.”
Aiken, like fellow early starter Hanson, began his round at the 10th and made rapid progress when he crammed six birdies in an inward half of 30.
The South African only has a conditional tour card this season and did not know he was competing here until Monday.
Unusually for a top golfer, Aiken was sponsor-less on his cap and sweater. “I am, and have been for a while, logo-free. Economic crisis,” he joked.
Britain’s John Bickerton produced the shot of the day, using a five-iron for a hole-in-one at the 194-yard, par-three third as he registered a 72.
World number five Henrik Stenson improved only two strokes on the 78 with which he started last week’s BMW PGA Championship, and the horrendous last six months of 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell continued with an 80.
Players Championship winner Stenson, who ran up double-bogey sevens on both the 12th and 15th, said: “It’s not a crisis and I’m not really worried. There were a lot of good things even though I was not getting the scoring going.”
Troubled by neck and back problems, New Zealander Campbell has not made a cut since the Dunhill Links Championship in October and at Wentworth a week ago handed in scores of 79 and 82.
He had to wait only three holes this morning for it all to go horribly wrong again. Two lost balls off the tee at the long 12th led to a quadruple-bogey nine.
Peter Lawrie showed a welcome return to form with a six-birdie 67 in halves of 34 and 33, while Rory McIlroy’s 69 leaves him handily placed one shot ahead of Lee Westwood and Colin Montgomerie.
Graeme McDowell and Paul McGinley, who partnered Shane Lowry in his first professional round of 78, were also two under par after rounds of 70.
However, their other compatriots found the London Club a tough test with Michael Hoey on one-over-par 73, Darren Clarke and Damien McGrane on 74 and Gary Murphy on 75.
Masters champion Angel Cabrera, meanwhile, shot 72.
(Irish in bold, British unless stated)
65 - A Hansen (Den)
66 - P Hanson (Swe), T Aiken (Rsa), S
Little, J Randhawa (Ind)
67 - C Cevaer (Fra), J Milkha Singh (Ind), M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), S Kapur (Ind), M Siem (Ger), Peter Lawrie (Irl), S Khan, A Tadini (Ita), J Lucquin (Fra)
68 - A Haig (Rsa), D Horsey, L Oosthuizen
(Rsa), B Curtis (USA), G Storm, A Wall, R Karlsson (Swe), J Donaldson,
G Fdez-Castano (Spa), C Doak
69 - C Wood, S Webster, R Kakko (Fin), S Hansen (Den), S Garcia (Spa), B Grace (Rsa), D Vancsik (Arg), R Gonzalez (Arg), Rory McIlroy (NIrl), C Nirat (Tha), T Goya (Arg), M Fraser (Aus)
70 - M Lundberg (Swe), C Del Moral (Spa), J Haeggman (Swe), JM Lara (Spa), P Larrazabal (Spa), T Bjorn (Den), R Cabrera Bello (Spa), L Westwood, R Bland, Graeme McDowell, P Waring, D Howell, C Montgomerie, T Remkes (Ned), Paul McGinley (Irl), R McGowan
71 - G Orr, O Wilson, K Eriksson (Swe), M Kaymer (Ger), S O’Hara, M Vibe-Hastrup (Den), O Fisher, J Edfors (Swe), S Wakefield, J Daly (USA), C Macaulay, Lee Slattery, N Fasth (Swe), S Micheel (USA), A Canizares (Spa), A Forsyth, J Gonnet
(Fra), M A Carlsson (Swe), S Benson, A Quiros (Spa), G Bourdy (Fra), I Garrido (Spa)
72 - F Molinari (Ita), R Echenique (Arg), D Willett, P Edberg (Swe), J Bickerton, A Kang (USA), F Aguilar (Chi), M Brier (Aut),
J Remesy (Fra), O Henningsson (Swe), M Tunnicliff, B Dredge, N Dougherty, S Drummond, A Cabrera (Arg), D Lynn, D Drysdale, F Zanotti (Par), R Sterne (Rsa)
73 - R Jan Derksen (Ned), R Fisher, M Erlandsson (Swe), B Barham, J Ablett, P Hedblom (Swe), W Besseling (Ned), Michael Hoey (NIrl), R Goosen (Rsa), P Senior (Aus), R Jacquelin (Fra), P Broadhurst, G Lockerbie, S Gallacher, P Lawrie, D Dixon, R Green (Aus), M Foster 74 - J Huldahl (Den), Damien McGrane (Irl), R Ramsay, F Delamontagne (Fra), Gareth Maybin (NIrl), Darren Clarke (NIrl), D Frost (Rsa), A McLardy (Rsa), R Rock, R Finch, M Jonzon (Swe), I Van Weerelt (Ned), P O’Malley (Aus)
75 - Z Scotland, M Ilonen (Fin), A Coltart, T Jaidee (Tha), B Rumford (Aus), Gary Murphy (Irl), S Dodd, P Archer, P Martin (Spa)
76 - J McCreadie, R Dinwiddie, A McLean,
M Lafeber (Ned), K Ferrie, A Oldcorn, H Stenson (Swe), B Lane, G Havret (Fra)
77 - A Velasco (Spa), P Price, S Strange (Aus), M Brown (Nzl)
78 - J Sandelin (Swe), Shane Lowry (Irl) 79 - M Warren, PU Johansson (Swe), S Arnold (Hkg), D Gilford, S Dyson
80 - Michael Campbell (Nzl)
84 - Reinier Saxton (Ned).
