GARCIA LEADS BY ONE FROM FULKE IN SYDNEY

The host was as charming as ever with a 66 to open the tournament bearing his name, but Greg Norman found himself upstaged by a young interloper at his party as Sergio Garcia carried a one stroke lead into the second round of the Greg Norman Holden Classic at The Lakes GC, Sydney.

Garcia, without a victory since the Linde German Masters 16 months ago, made a fast start to his season on the European Tour with a nine under par 64 – one stroke outside the course record – to lead Pierre Fulke by one, with Norman among a quartet of players at seven under.

The young Spaniard received the key to the door when he turned 21 last month and he unlocked the secrets of The Lakes with an unblemished, nine-birdie round which took him without a shot of emulating Adam Scott’s record 63 last year.

On this occasion Scott managed a three under par 70 as Garcia stole pole position with his lowest round since turning professional after the 1999 Masters Tournament. He said: “It was a great round. I went out and hit the ball well and made some nice birdies at the beginning which kept me going for the whole round.

“It is my lowest round in a tournament, nine under par. I missed only one fairway and three greens. It was a quite comfortable nine under. I didn’t make a birdie at the par five 14th but other than that it was brilliant.”

Fulke continued his romance with Australia by shooting a 65 which also contained nine birdies, but also a bogey at the third. The Swede, current leader of the Volvo Order of Merit and the Ryder Cup points table, finished runner-up to Steve Stricker in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship last month.

A few weeks on, and following a 23rd place finish in Perth, he was once more at ease in the Australian summer. He admitted: “I had three weeks off at home and the swing wasn’t there last week; neither was the putting. It was a bit of a struggle. But this week I am swinging a lot better and I feel good.”

Norman, now 45 but still able to keep up with the youngsters, saved the last three of his birdies birdies for the closing three holes as he made a strong surge in his pursuit of his own title.

Despite the 24 year disparity in ages between the Great White Shark and Garcia, Norman believes he is still capable of reeling in the silverware. He pointed out: “Ray Floyd and Hale Irwin both won in their mid-40s. It depends on how strong your mind and body are.

“I don’t think it makes any difference on a course where youth and strength are not really an advantage. I look forward to it. I still believe I can do it. If I did not think I could do it then I wouldn’t play.”

Steve Alker of New Zealand, England’s Daren Lee and Welshman Phillip Price all joined Norman on 66. Price matched Norman’s haul of seven birdies while Lee made eight with one bogey.

The Essex man, who finished fifth in last season’s BMW International Open, broke with his routine of walking the course instead of practising. He explained: “That was unusual for me. I normally like to walk the course and get the lines off the tees and so on. But the weather has been bad in London so I felt I should play.”