Poulter leaves his sick bed to lead the way

Golf: One of the great anomalies of golf is that the harder you try, the worse you get. Tense muscles and gritted teeth produce more bogeys than birdies and it often helps to stand on the first tee with no expectations whatsoever.

Which is what Ian Poulter did yesterday for the first round of the Wales Open. In fact, the first tee was one of the last places he wanted to be, his preferred option being bed.

He was suffering from tonsillitis and said it felt "like someone had put two cricket balls down my throat".

He considered withdrawing, decided instead to give it a try, resolved to swing easy, play within himself and relax. As a result he had his best day on the golf course this year with a seven-under-par 65, having registered six birdies after 11 holes.

He finished alongside the Australian Nick O'Hern, one shot in front of Jonathan Lomas and two shots clear of no fewer than five players.

That puts them eight strokes ahead of the pre-tournament favourite, Colin Montgomerie, who said on Wednesday that he was intent on being a more cheerful chappie on the golf course, his new caddie, Steve Rawlinson, being both a character and "really funny".

But there was little to be happy about yesterday as his putter went cold on him. He missed from two feet for a birdie on the 18th and could only manage a 73. He marched grim-faced off the green, signed his card and stomped off into the clubhouse.

Best of the Irish was Peter Lawrie, who had six birdies on his way to a four-under-par 68. Gary Murphy was a shot further back, while Graeme McDowell managed to include seven birdies in a rollercoaster round after which he signed for a 70.

Damien McGrane ruined a good card with a double bogey on the seventh to finish on level par, while Philip Walton (73) and Paul McGinley (75) have their work cut out to make the cut.

Poulter was amazed by his score. "That," he said, "was a massive surprise. After the pro-am I had no strength left at all and went straight to bed. I'm dosed up with antibiotics at the moment, trying to sort it out. I seem to get it five or six times a year, so I carry a stock.

"I did win a tournament in Morocco with it, but I think I want to get them (tonsils) out because I've had enough of this."

Poulter said the illness might have helped rather than hindered. "I've felt for the last few weeks that I've been hitting some great golf shots but haven't been putting the scores on the card. So maybe today it was a blessing that I was feeling lousy and just went out there and tried to swing at about 80 per cent.

"Perhaps I've been trying too hard. Today I didn't really try hard at all, just tried to get round the golf course, nice and smooth, and I hit some great golf shots."