England’s Daren Lee took the first step towards his maiden European Tour title success when he moved into a two shot lead after the first round of The Great North Open at De Vere Slaley Hall.
The 36 year old from Essex carded a flawless six under par 66 in the calmer afternoon conditions on the Northumberland course to pull away from his nearest challengers, fellow countryman Jamie Spence and Andrew Coltart of Scotland who both returned 68s.
Lee started his round at the tenth hole and immediately strode into red figures with birdies at the 362 yard tenth and the 562 yard 11th. Another birdie followed at the short 14th to see him through nine holes in 33.
Moving onto the front nine, Lee continued his assault on the Slaley Hall par with consecutive birdies at the fourth and fifth holes and, just as he had started his round in style, he finished in similar fashion with his sixth birdie of the day at the testing signature hole, the 453 yard ninth, rolling in a 50 foot putt right across the green.
"The wind definitely dropped off in the afternoon but I played really solidly all the way round," said Lee, who famously never plays practice rounds preferring instead to walk the course to assess yardage and lines.
"I've missed every cut in England this year but I worked on a few things last week at home and that has helped a lot. I've been trying to turn my hips more and stop using my hands so much from the top of the swing and having that to think about helps take your mind off everything else."
Leading the chasing pack were Spence and Coltart who partnered each other and who finished with the same score, but who assembled it in different fashion.
Having started on the first tee, the duo both moved through 11 holes of their round in figures of one under par before Coltart made a significant move at the 531 yard 12th hole with an eagle three.
It moved the 31 year old Scot to three under par and he booked his place amongst the higher echelons of the leaderboard with a final birdie three at the short 17th.
Alongside Coltart, Spence saved his move up the leaderboard for late in the day, rolling in consecutive birdie putts on the 15th, 16th and 17th to complete his four under par opening effort.
Five players bunched one shot behind after opening with 69s including Andrew Oldcorn, winner of the Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth Club last month, and Roger Chapman, who completed his 500th European Tour event at the end of April in the Algarve Open de Portugal.
Oldcorn boosted his chances of cementing a Ryder Cup place with five birdies and two bogeys in his three under par opener while Chapman, in the group behind, carded six birdies and three bogeys in a rollercoaster effort.
Amongst the group of players who opened with 70 was England amateur golfer Nick Dougherty who continued his impressive form on the professional circuit, form that he admitted he wished he could carry over into his forays back into the non-paid ranks.
The protege of six-time Major winner Nick Faldo, began in spectacular fashion with a 340-yard drive on the 11th, his second hole, and a five-iron to 15 feet for an eagle, before also birdied the next hole.
"I wish I knew why I was playing better in professional tournaments than in the amateur game," said the 19-year-old from Chorley in Lancashire who won the stroke play stage of the British Amateur championship at Prestwick before losing in the first round of the match play.
"I think parkland courses suit me better than links courses and I do really love it out here. Once you have a taste for it you want even more, it's fabulous.”
While the leaders rejoiced there was only despair for defending champion Lee Westwood who slumped to an opening 81 to leave him 15 shots off the lead and in severe danger of missing the cut.
The reigning European Number One was level par after 11 holes but played the remaining seven in nine over par, double bogeying the third, fifth and sixth before ending with three consecutive dropped shots at the seventh, eighth and nine to be home in 45.
Although disappointed, Westwood remained philsophical and in good humour as he reflected on his fall from grace. He said: "I haven't hit the ball well for five months so I don't know why it should get better all of a sudden.
"I didn't hit it well even for the first 11 holes and after that just got sick of scrambling and was in a bad frame of mind. It's starting to get to me having to chip and putt for par all the time, it would be nice to just go out and freewheel, but everything is just hard out there."
If there was any consolation to be gained for the World Number Five, his opening round was not the worst of his professional career, that coming in the gale-lashed final round of the Benson and Hedges International Open at The Oxfordshire in 1996, where Westwood carded an 85.
