Irish off to solid start

GOLF/French Open: Gary Murphy shot an opening round 68 to lie just two shots behind the joint leaders after yesterday's first round of the French Open. One shot further back was fellow Irishman Peter Lawrie, while Graeme McDowell and Ronan Rafferty both returned 70s.

Paul McGinley opened with a 71, but former Ryder Cup player Philip Walton will have been disappointed with his 77.

Leading on six-under, 66, are the French amateur, Eric Chaudouet, Philip Golding of England and Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium. Chaudouet, who won the French championship on this course last year, is the first amateur to lead, or jointly lead, a European Tour event since Pablo Martin did so after three rounds of the Spanish Open in April.

Brian Davis, the US Open adventurer, spurned a practice round but produced a 68 to be only two behind the joint leaders after 18 holes. Davis is the Bishops Stortford player who a month ago set his heart on playing in Chicago, flew there to qualify, flew back and played in the British Masters and then flew back to Illinois for the US Open itself.

The intention was to gain some experience and have fun, and while he achieved the former when he made the cut, the latter was denied him when his wife, Julie, was taken ill.

Julie, daughter of former England goalkeeper, Ray Clemence, was taken into hospital for tests while Davis was in the US qualifying and, it seems, they still cannot decide what is wrong.

"I stayed at home this week for as long as I could," said Davis yesterday, "because I was worried about Julie. She's undergoing neurology tests now and it is very difficult to concentrate on golf, or to think it is important in any way, when that is going on."

But Davis needs to play to earn, of course, and at four-under he is well in contention. Justin Rose, fifth in that US Open, was on the same mark as Davis and could have expected to be one better. Rose, battling a head cold, hit his tee-shot at the difficult 17th into the left rough and stood on it, incurring a one-stroke penalty.

Rose, playing with his friend Ian Poulter, said: "I was talking to Ian and looking for my ball and the next thing I knew I'd stood on it. It's the first time I've done it and it was sitting down and I thought it was further along than it was."

Colsaerts, from Brussels, is a promising player prone to streaks of great play. Yesterday he birdied the first, parred the second and then birdied the next six in succession. As the ninth is a very birdieable par five an outward half of 28 threatened, but the Belgian proceeded to hit three poor shots followed by three poor putts to be out in 30.

The flow interrupted, Colsaerts, bogeyed the 10th and 12th as well, and although 66 was still a good score it was not the 59 he admitted was in his mind in the middle of the front nine.

Meanwhile, the absurdity that is the modern tournament pro-am was reduced to the level of a farce on Wednesday.

The winning total was a perfectly ludicrous 48, or 24-under par; a score that is simply not possible with properly regulated amateurs playing in a properly regulated event.

Here the format called for one score to go on the card from any of the three amateurs or the professional, a method that already induces silly scores in the mid to upper 50s.

The second team on Wednesday, for example, was that of Jean Van de Velde, on 55, while jointly third on 56 was Ian Poulter's team.

Van de Velde admitted the winning score was "pretty amazing", while Poulter said yesterday: "I had told my amateurs that their 16-under usually wins."