McGowan and Ruiz strike early

ITALIAN OPEN:England's Ross McGowan and Marco Ruiz of Paraguay produced golf as hot as the Milan sunshine to post eight-under-par 64s and share the lead in the first round of the Methorios Capital Italian Open in Milan.

Three players - England's Mark Foster, South Africa's Hennie Otto and Scotland's Marc Warren - are tied for second place on seven under par after an eventful day's play at Castello di Tolcinasco Golf and Country Club.

Challenge Tour graduate McGowan's 64 was a flawless display of golf, featuring eight birdies - six of them before the turn.

McGowan's round was matched by Ruiz, who arrived in Milan on the back of a top-15 finish at last week's Open de España in Seville.

Twice major champion John Daly fired a five-under 67 to record his best round in four months.

The big-hitting American, ranked 609 in the world and without a full USGA Tour card, shot a 66 in the first round of the Mayakoba Classic on the Nationwide Tour in February for his best finish of the year at tied 60th.

He has struggled with a rib injury sustained over a year ago and cited a return to the swing that earned him five PGA titles as well as British Open and PGA Championship wins as the catalyst for a round that included a four-under-par back nine of 32.

"It's nice to be healthy again because the year or more with the rib problem was brutal for me," said the 42-year-old.

FIRST ROUND SCORES

(Castello di Tolcinasco G CC, Milan)

(British unless stated, par 72)

64 - M Ruiz (Par), R McGowan 65 - H Otto (Rsa), M Warren, M Foster 66 - S Webster, E Goya (Arg), S Kjeldsen (Den), O Wilson, P Johansson (Swe), A Noren (Swe), F Zanotti (Par), G Bourdy (Fra) 67 - C Nilsson (Swe), C Schwartzel (Rsa), R Jacquelin (Fra), J Lima (Por), J Daly (USA), G Paddison (Nzl), J Remesy (Fra), R Cabrera Bello (Spa), M Fraser (Aus), E Molinari (Ita) 68 - R Bland, H Nystrom (Swe), M Eliasson (Swe), A Hansen (Den), M Millar (Aus), D McGuigan, B Mason, M Lafeber (Ned), N Lombardi (Ita), D Lynn, R Karlsson (Swe), I Garrido (Spa), E Canonica (Ita) 69 - G Murray, G Orr, J Larsen (Nor), P Baker, F Delamontagne (Fra), R Gonzalez (Arg), JM Lara (Spa), P Broadhurst, A Rocha (Bra), F Colombo (Ita), M Jonzon (Swe), J Kamte (Rsa), M Tunnicliff, S Little, T Levet (Fra), B Dredge 70 - F Molinari (Ita), A Velasco (Spa), S Bebb, D Park, A Wall, P Linhart (Spa), S Barr (Aus), S Struver (Ger), C Terragni (Ita), G Havret (Fra), J Abbate (Arg), J Gonnet (Fra), U Van Den Berg (Rsa), S Kapur (Ind), P Waring, M Siem (Ger), C Rodiles (Spa), J Zapata (Arg), A McLardy (Rsa), L James, P Archer, F Praegant (Aut), A Perrino (Ita) 71 - R Coles, D Frost (Rsa), L Slattery, R Rock, A McArthur, A Tadini (Ita), A Garcia (Spa), S Luna (Spa), A Bruschi (Ita), J Backstrom (Swe), C Cevaer (Fra), M Wiegele (Aut), G Houston, J Sandelin (Swe), N Dougherty, G Lockerbie, G Clark, D Dixon, L Gagli (Ita), T Aiken (Rsa) 72 - P Sjoland (Swe), L Bond, L Claverie (Spa), R Echenique (Arg), S O'Hara, P Larrazabal (Spa), G Molteni (Ita), S Dodd, A i Ahokas (Fin), P Fowler (Aus), C Lee, Z Scotland, R Guillard (Fra), K Sullivan, M Soffietti (Ita), S Gallacher, A Canete (Arg), F Andersson Hed (Swe) 73 - R Eyraud (Fra), R Ramsay, M Cort, G Grillo (Ita), D Drysdale, S Walker, A Napoleoni (Ita), M Reale (Ita), G Castano (Spa), P Golding, I Garbutt 74 - M Crespi (Ita), L Westerberg (Swe), D Griffiths, M Vibe-Hastrup (Den), J Payne, A Quiros (Spa), I Pyman, M Pilkington, A Forsyth 75 - C Vigano (Ita), M Rodriguez (Arg), S Alker (Nzl), A Haig (Rsa), P Terreni (Ita), T Cruz (Por), T Whitehouse, B Teilleria (Fra), K Eriksson (Swe) 76 - F Aguilar (Chi), M Erlandsson (Swe), N Maestroni (Ita), M Brier (Aut), A Zanini (Ita), N Bertasio (Ita) 77 - P Gustafsson (Swe), S t Drummond 78 - S Jeppesen (Swe), S Manley 79 - C Rocca (Ita) 81 - T Pilkadaris (Aus) Ret: P Price, A McLean