Nolan poised to make the cut

Keith Nolan reached the sanctity of the locker room at the Woodlands Country Club in Texas yesterday and was convinced he had shown important signs of maturity in shooting a first round of two under par 70 in the Shell Houston Open.

"Considering how poorly I'm hitting the ball off the tee, I've got to be very pleased with that," said Ireland's former Walker Cup player, who was four shots behind clubhouse leaders Scott Hoch and Franklin Langham, both of whom shot 66s. Nolan added: "I've always scrambled quite well, but it's good to be able to do it under this sort of pressure. It's definitely a good sign."

Indeed, Nolan, who confirmed he will be playing in the Murphy's Irish Open at Druids Glen in July, headed out to the practice range shortly after completing his opening round in an attempt to rectify problems with his driver. "I felt a bit like Seve Ballesteros I had to play so many escape shots," he quipped, adding: "At one hole, the fourth, my 13th, I hit the ball so far left it was off the world."

Nevertheless, Nolan could feel some quiet satisfaction in grinding out a sub-par round which puts him in a position to make the cut for the weekend as he chases much-needed prizemoney to improve his order of merit ranking.

The Bray golfer had the pretty rare distinction of shooting "level fours" for his opening nine holes. Starting on the 10th, he had birdie putts from inside 25 feet at his opening three holes but failed to convert any. However, Nolan sank a 35 footer at the 13th for birdie but gave the shot back at the next when his six iron approach went over the back of the 14th green and he failed to get up and down.

Nolan immediately birdied the next hole - the par five 15th, where he hit a wedge approach to 15 feet - but, frustratingly, bogeyed the next hole after his six iron tee-shot found a greenside sandtrap. However, he got some heart when sinking a 12 footer for his par at the 18th and then started birdie-birdie on his homeward run.

At the Par five first hole, he hit a lob wedge approach to eight feet and made the putt and, at the second, he hit three wood-sand wedge to four feet and made the putt to move to two under par.

After that, however, Nolan had to show all his fighting qualities as his round became more adventurous as each hole progressed. At the fourth, his 13th, he used three wood off the tee again but hit it so far left that he had no option other than to play back out onto the fairway with a sand wedge, and then played a majestic wedge to four feet and sank the putt for an unlikely par.

And, at the sixth, his 15th, he again pulled his drive but got a lucky break when the ball rebounded off trees. "I'd have been out-of-bounds otherwise," he confessed. However, it took him another two five-woods to reach the edge of the green, and he then duffed his pitch and failed to get up and down, eventually recording a bogey six "that could have been worse."

Attempting to compensate off the tee, he blocked his drive at the seventh, his 16th, onto a cart path. But he made what he termed "a mental error" when not taking full relief with his free drop, until it was pointed out by his playing partners Joe Daley and Bob Friend. The first drop had finished perfectly, but the second effort sat down on him and he feared his seven iron approach was going to finish in the water to the front of the green.

The other Irish player, Richie Coughlan, was also in good form in recording a 72.