Harrington and Burns enjoy best and worst

While Padraig Harrington kicked off the European Tour season in sensational style by bagging a hole-in-one on yesterday's opening day here at the Blue Canyon course, Raymond Burns suffered the indignity of incurring a penalty shot for slow play on his way to a dreadful 82.

Harrington and Paul McGinley each completed the day with three-under-par 69s to be just two shots from the lead, which is shared by four players. Defending champion Ernie Els was joined at five-under-par by Thomas Bjorn, Alex Cejka and Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng.

Tiger Woods, recently installed as world number one, was off to a lacklustre start in the heat, recording an even-par 72.

Harrington's was, in fact, one of three aces recorded on the day. "Getting a hole-in-one in your first game is a nice way to start a new year," Harrington said, "and while I made four other birdies, there were three bogeys in my round, so it was a bit up-and-down.

"I did some stupid things, and hit some good shots too. But overall the consistency wasn't there.

"My wedge shots were very poor, and I took four to get down once and three every other time. But then I didn't have any threeputts, so that helped."

Harrington, who began his round at the 10th tee, holed out with a three-iron at the 204-yard second hole.

It was the fourth ace of his career and the second since he turned professional. He scored his first as a professional in the first round of the 1996 Volvo Masters at Valderrama.

A new crackdown on slow play was evident within hours of the tour's start when Burns and South African Wayne Westner were penalised a shot and fined £500, Burns for taking 12 seconds too long to play a stroke and Westner 51 seconds.

Colin Montgomerie and Greg Norman - neither playing this week - were among those who called for tougher action on slow play last year, throughout which just one player was punished a shot.

But Burns (24), was "horrified" at being labelled a snail. "There has never been any question in my life of me being a slow player. This is just unbelievable," he said. Chief referee John Paramor is determined to act, however, and said: "Every member of the tour was sent a memo containing the new guidelines on slow play before Christmas and were informed again on the noticeboard this week and on the first tee.

"Players are now timed without being warned and if they have one bad time they're told that one more breach will be penalised."

Burns, already four-over-par after eight holes, was docked a shot on the ninth, while Westner, having turned in two over, was immediately told of his costly transgression on the 10th. "Not best pleased," was Paramor's description of his reaction.

Another player, Swede Peter Heblom, suffered a four-stroke penalty. But that was for starting out with an extra club in his bag, an error he only discovered on the third.

Like Burns, Ireland's other representative in the field, Philip Walton, has his work cut out to play at the weekend after opening with a disappointing 78.

Harrington and McGinley, like all players in the field, walked off the final green soaked to the skin from the oppressive heat.

"I was out early," Harrington said, "and for the first six or seven holes it was not too hot, but by the time we got to the back nine the weather became very hot, then the wind came up and I dropped a couple of shots due to miss-clubbing in the wind. So overall it was quite difficult.

"Yesterday I shot 70 in the proam, so I knew the consistency wasn't there and I could easily have blown up into the 80s, and I think tomorrow will be again like today.

"You really can't expect anything at this stage of the year, but I'm really happy with my start because it is a good, solid base to work from."

After eagling the last to grab a share of the lead, Bjorn, Denmark's Ryder Cup star, took a swipe at the American commentators who made excuses for their performance at Valderrama.

"There is a reason why we won the Ryder Cup, and that is that we have some great young players in Europe. We want to show the world this season that we can do well, whatever the level."

The automatic American assumption of superiority clearly rankled with Bjorn, who is aware that in the last seven meetings between the sides, Europe lead by 4 1/2 to 2 1/2.

"We keep hearing how much better they are, and their tour is," said Bjorn, "but I don't think so. There is Lee (Westwood), me and there is Darren Clarke. We are going to show the world what we can do."