On a day interrupted by a ferocious hail, thunder and lightning storm described by European Tour chief referee John Paramor as “the worst I have ever experienced in Britain at a golf tournament,” on the course the headlines belonged to Nick O’Hern and Miles Tunnicliff who shared the first round lead in the Diageo Championship at Gleneagles.
The Australian and the Englishman both carded excellent five under par rounds of 67 to move one shot ahead of Spain’s Santiago Luna and Paul McGinley of Ireland, all four players completing their rounds in the morning before almost three hours of play was lost in the afternoon as a result of the inclement weather.
Such was the speed of the front which swept across the Perthshire countryside that the lightning detector based in The European Tour offices went from all clear to red alert in around 15 seconds, initiating a superb effort from the tournament staff and Gleneagles officials to get all the competitors off the course quickly and safely.
Play stopped at 2.35pm and resumed at 5.30pm but two players with no worries on that score were the joint leaders O’Hern and Tunnicliff, who tamed the windy PGA Centenary Course with excellent morning efforts, Tunnicliff’s particularly impressive as he was the only player to complete a round without dropping a shot.
The 35 year old, whose only Tour victory to date came almost two years to the day in the 2002 Great North Open, admitted he was even more pleased with his lofty position considering an injury to his right wrist put question marks over his participation in the first place.
“I twisted my right wrist at home last month moving some cases around,” said Tunnicliff. “It was the week of the Italian Open and then I went to the the Forest of Arden and couldn’t play at all, didn’t play China either and was dodgy for the Deutsche Bank.
“I thought I would try it on Thursday morning in Germany, strapped it up and it was all right and it has been steadily improving over the last two weeks. I just hit one shot on Sunday in Wales when I felt it and it has been playing up a little bit since then.
“Yesterday I was wondering if I was going to play and didn’t hit any balls at all, just rested up so today I went out there certainly relaxed and refreshed. Beware the injured golfer as they say.
“I was always going to tee off but if I started getting a few of the sharper pains again then I was going to pull out. They have already operated on my left one for a repetitive stress injury, so I don’t want the full set!”
Certainly Tunnicliff did not play like a man under the burden of a handicap, carding birdies at the second, seventh and 12th and a spectacular eagle three at the ninth where a fine drive was followed up by an even more impressive five iron second which left the ball nestling a mere foot from the cup.
Alongside Tunnicliff, left handed Australian O’Hern had almost as impressive a day although he did have to succumb to one dropped shot in his 18 holes, at the testing 461 yard fifth, where he missed the green with his four iron approach and did not get up and down.
But elsewhere the Australian, who finished fourth in last week’s Celtic Manor Wales Open at The Celtic Manor Resort, admitted he was more than pleased with his opening day’s work.
“I do feel like I am continuing on from Wales,” said O’Hern. “I played lovely at the weekend there and I feel that my game is starting to get there. I chipped and putted very well today and scored well. Swing wise it is coming along. It didn’t feel right when I first came over this year but in the last three weeks it is starting to click certainly.”
Nearest challengers to the leading duo were McGinley and Luna, McGinley peppering his round with six birdies while Luna notched five.
“It was a good round of golf,” said McGinley. “There was only one dropped shot that I was upset about, on the eighth where I hit a sand wedge in to the pin which was on the top tier of the green and I tried to get a little bit cute and overshot it. But other than that, it was a really good day.”
Like O’Hern, Luna also enjoyed a good tournament last week in Wales, finishing in a tie for 15th place and kept the form going with a solid 68, the highlight of his five birdies coming at the 449 yard 13th hole where a delightfully executed eight iron approach nestled a mere foot from the hole.
“The game is up and down at the moment,” said the winner of the 1995 Maderia Island Open. “I need to have four days in a row with the same score, I always have one good round in a tournament which is not enough. But this is a good start – I’ll take it.”
Another player to finish his round was recently crowned Volvo PGA champion Scott Drummond, back in action for the first time since his spectacular victory at Wentworth Club.
The 30 year old Scot did not quite reproduce the fireworks of his final round 64 on the West Course but he battled bravely for a one over par 73. “It was a relief to hit a ball again and I’m glad I didn’t have a longer break than a week off,” he said. “That was enough and I got back into it again nicely today and tried to get back into the same mindset that I had at Wentworth. It was a bit more difficult today but all in all pretty good.”
