Murphy gives himself a chance

GOLF/Mallorca Classic:Ireland's Gary Murphy made the perfect start in his bid to gain a place in next week's Volvo Masters in Valderrama.

Murphy and Andrew McLardy set the clubhouse target at four-under-66 in the rain-affected first round of the Mallorca Classic at Pula Golf Club yesterday.

An afternoon thunderstorm forced the players from the course and play was abandoned for the day shortly after 4.30pm local time. Sixty players will resume their first rounds at 9am this morning.

Murphy's card for next year is safe, but the Irishman is looking to finish first or second to qualify for next week's end-of-season cash bonanza.

The 35-year-old from Kilkenny shared the lead on each of the first three days here 12 months ago, only to slip to joint 13th with a closing 76, and joked: "The first round is always my best round here!

"In last year's final round I finished in an ambulance after three-putting the 16th. It's difficult to forget, but I'll try to."

In a flawless 66, Murphy, starting at the 10th, birdied his first hole on his way to an outward half of 34. And three birdies - at the first, second and fourth - on his back nine brought him home in 32.

England's Graeme Storm is just a shot off the pace despite admitting he is "running on empty".

"I've played far too many events this year and I'm running on empty," said Storm, who won his first European Tour title in the French Open at Le Golf National in July.

"After winning in France I obviously had to play events like the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, the Open and the US PGA Championship, and I ended up playing eight weeks in a row.

"I've already looked at the schedule for next year and think I'll play 25 or 27 maximum, to play any more would be stupid."

Storm lies 16th on the Order of Merit and needs to move into the top 15 to book his place in the US Open next year, while remaining inside the top 20 will guarantee entry into the British Open at Royal Birkdale.

Pre-tournament favourite Sergio Garcia admitted his game was rusty following a five-week break after carding a 68 which included three bogeys and five birdies, one of those coming on the 13th when he was inches away from a hole-in-one.

"I felt rusty on the front nine and struggled with a couple of tee-shots, getting too narrow with my back swing," explained the world number 10.

"On the 18th we also hit the wrong club, but it was a good shot just left of the flag and that got me going, and I started to hit some good shots on the back nine."

Garcia has played the event three times and never finished outside the top two, winning on his debut in 2004 and finishing runner-up to Ryder Cup team-mates Jose Maria Olazabal and Niclas Fasth the last two years.

Amazingly, the 27-year-old has also gone on to finish second in the season-ending Volvo Masters the following week for each of the last three years, and is desperate to end that sequence with a first European Tour title since 2005.

"It's the kind of course I like," he added. "No one shoots 18 under to win and the winning total always stays between five or 10 under (Niclas Fasth won on five under last year).

"There are a lot of tricky shots and unless you hit driver everywhere, often you are hitting five or six irons into the greens, which have a lot of slopes and tough pin positions."

Former Ryder Cup player Andrew Coltart was a shot behind Garcia after a 69, a solid start to his last-ditch bid to keep his European Tour card.

Only the top 118 on the Order of Merit on Sunday evening will retain their full playing privileges for 2008, and Coltart lies a lowly 169th without a single top-10 finish all season.

However, the two-time European Tour winner is 41st on the career money list - the top 40 also earn a tour card - and is just over €31,500 behind Spain's Seve Ballesteros.

Finishing 13th or better in Mallorca would save Coltart from a first visit to the dreaded qualifying school since 1993, and the 37-year-old kept his hopes alive with two birdies and one bogey.

"I'll do my bit and give it my best and see what happens at the end of it," he said.

"I'd rather be playing under a different sort of pressure, but it's the situation I find myself in and you have to adapt to it."

Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley and Damien McGrane are all on one-over-par 71.

McDowell mixed four birdies with five bogeys in halves of 35 and 36, while McGinley and McGrane each had three bogeys and two birdies. Peter Lawrie is one-under-par after three holes.

MALLORCA CLASSIC

(Pula GC, Mallorca, Spain)

Completed first round scores:

66 - Gary Murphy (Irl),A McLardy (Rsa)

67 -J Bäckström (Swe), J Hepworth (Eng), G Storm (Eng)

68 -A Forsyth (Sco), S Garcia (Spa), J Randhawa (Ind)

69 -A Canete (Arg), A Coltart (Sco), I Garbutt (Eng), P Lawrie (Sco), P Price (Wal), F Valera (Spa),

70 -P Archer (Eng), M Brier (Aut), P O'Malley (Aus), W Ormsby (Aus), J Sandelin (Swe),

71 -T Björn (Den), C Cévaër (Fra), D Drysdale (Sco), P Edberg (Swe), G Fdez-Castaño (Spa), P Gustafsson (Swe), JM Lara (Spa), Graeme McDowell (NIrl), Paul McGinley (Irl), Damien McGrane (Irl),A Noren (Swe), B Rumford (Aus), A Salto (Spa), P Sjöland (Swe), L Slattery (Eng), M Tunnicliff (Eng),

72 -J Axgren (Swe), R Bland (Eng), D Carter (Eng), O Fisher (Eng), P Martin (Spa), K Sullivan (Eng), 73 - S Benson (Eng), M Erlandsson (Swe) , G Lockerbie (Eng), S Strüver (Ger),

74 -J Del Moral (Spa), S Dodd (Wal), JB Gonnet (Fra), C Nilsson (Swe), E Rush (Eng),

76 -B Hafthorsson (Isl), R McEvoy (Eng),

77 -A Domingo (Spa),

83 -T Price (Aus).