European Tour/MallorcaClassic: Gary Murphy fired a four-under-par 66 in yesterday's opening round of the Mallorca Classic to grab a share of second place, one shot behind Jonathan Lomas.

More importantly, the fine start left the Kilkenny man in position to force his way into the top 60 of the European Tour rankings and earn a place in next week's lucrative, season's finale of the Volvo Masters at Valderrama.

Murphy is officially 77th in the rankings following Australian Mark Hensby's decision not to play next week at Valderrama and fulfil his mandatory 11 events to be a European member, which allowed everyone behind him to move up a slot.

Murphy opened with a birdie at the 10th, his first, on the Pula Golf Course, dropped a shot at the short 13th, picked up two more birdies at the 15th and 17th, but then bogeyed the closing par three 18th to be out in one-under 34.

But a flawless front nine, including birdies at the fourth, fifth and ninth holes, brought him home in 32 strokes to lie in a share of second with England's Mark Foster.

Playing in the same threeball with Murphy, Damien McGrane, who is 61st in the rankings, could manage only a two-over-par 72, which included a double bogey at the fifth followed immediately by an eagle at the next.

That left the Wexford man tied for 72nd, and he will almost certainly have to survive today's cut to have a chance of getting to Valderrama.

Meanwhile, one week after his joint best performance of the year, Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam was forced to pull out of the Classic through injury.

The 47-year-old Welshman damaged his right shoulder teeing off on the fifth hole, battled on for 11 more, but then quit after hitting a shot out of bounds from deep rough on the 17th.

Woosnam, fifth in the Madrid Open on Sunday, was one over par at the time.

"I was doing all right, but I felt another twinge and was only playing with a one-iron the last six holes," said Woosnam.

The former Masters champion blamed the problem on "hitting it too hard when you are too old", and added: "I guess I've had it before, but not as bad as that.

"It's gone into my lung and I felt winded. All I was trying to do was get it on the fairway.

"This was my last tournament of the year and it's a disappointing way to finish. I'll go and have a rest now."

England's Simon Khan, meanwhile, moved into contention with a three-under 67, but was worried he might be fined an incredible €20,000 for slow play.

Khan, penalised twice this season, found himself being timed again after his group fell behind the threesome in front and said: "As you can imagine it's not a nice thing when you know 16 grand (sterling) is looming."

The 33-year-old, runner-up in the event to Garcia last year, avoided falling foul of the European Tour regulations this time.

FIRST ROUND SCORES

(At Pula GC, Spain. British unless stated, par 70)

65 - Jonathan Lomas.

66 - Mark Foster, Gary Murphy (Ire).

67 - Sam Little, Paul Broadhurst, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Simon Khan, John Bickerton.

68 - Klas Eriksson (Swe), David Park, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa), Fredrik Henge (Swe), Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa), Mattias Eliasson (Swe), Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Marten Olander (Swe).

69 - Simon Hurd, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra), Peter Hanson (Swe), Benoit Teilleria (Fra), Scott Drummond, Miguel Angel Martin (Spa), Miles Tunnicliff, Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Mark Roe, Gregory Havret (Fra), Alastair Forsyth, Brad Kennedy (Aus), Sergio Garcia (Spa), Santiago Luna (Spa), Simon Wakefield, Jose Manuel Carriles (Spa), Carlos Del Moral (Spa).

70 - Pelle Edberg (Swe), Peter Hedblom (Swe), Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Robert Coles, Alessandro Tadini (Ita), Robert Rock, Ivo Giner (Spa), Stephen Scahill (Nzl), Leif Westerberg (Swe), Graeme Storm, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned), Paul Lawrie, David Lynn, Emanuele Canonica (Ita), Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe), Jean Van de Velde (Fra), Soren Hansen (Den), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Wade Ormsby (Aus), Niki Zitny (Aut).

71 - Marcel Siem (Ger), Markus Brier (Aut), David Carter, Nick Dougherty, Garry Houston, Andrew Oldcorn, Andrew Coltart, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Malcolm Mackenzie, Marcus Fraser (Aus), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Neil Cheetham, Johan Skold (Swe), Johan Axgren (Swe), Phillip Archer.

72 - Robert Karlsson (Swe), Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Anders Hansen (Den), Damien McGrane (Ire), Stuart Little, Peter Fowler (Aus), Jamie Spence, Matthew Blackey, Steven O'Hara, Bradley Dredge, Christian Cevaer (Fra).

73 - Darren Fichardt (Rsa), Andrea Maestroni (Ita), Christopher Hanell (Swe), Jamie Donaldson, Richard Finch, Ian Garbutt, Brett Rumford (Aus), Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Martin Maritz (Rsa), Stephen Gallacher, Ben Mason, Henrik Stenson (Swe).

74 - Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Karl Ableidinger (Aut), Raymond Russell, Philip Golding, Alvaro Salto (Spa), Richard Bland, David Griffiths.

75 - Patrik Sjoland (Swe), Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Alfredo Garcia (Spa), Jan-Are Larsen (Nor), Stuart Manley, Gary Emerson, Carlos Garcia (Spa), Carlos Rodiles (Spa), Fernando Roca (Spa).

76 - Francesco Molinari (Ita), Lee Slattery.

77 - Diego Borrego (Spa), Simon Dyson.

78 - David Drysdale, Barry Lane.

79 - Mikko Ilonen (Fin), (x) Pedro Sureda (Spa).

83 - (x) Bartoleme Mercant (Spa).

Ret: Ian Woosnam.