He may have left it late in the day, but Scott Strange put a stranglehold on the first round of the Celtic Manor Wales Open with a stunning eight under par 63 on the Twenty Ten Course, the venue for The 2010 Ryder Cup.
Starting on the 11th tee, Strange charged out of the blocks, picking up six birdies in his opening eight holes to cut into the seven under par clubhouse lead of Edoardo Molinari of Italy.
The Australian then played the front nine in one under 35 before completing his back nine in fine style with a birdie two on the par three tenth hole, leaving the 31 year with a brilliant back nine of just 28 strokes.
“I think any time that you shoot eight under you have got to be satisfied,” smiled Strange “I played nicely all day – the weather was good and the course was good, so it was a nice day. When the weather is that good and you are playing well you know there is going to be a low score on.
“I guess on any golf course if the conditions are benign and you are putting well then you can shoot something.
“I have shot 28 for nine holes back home a couple of times at my home course, but you are supposed to do that at your home course. I suppose if you are playing nicely you are going to play under par and you will get one when you go low. You just have to take advantage of them.”
Molinari had moved to the top of the leaderboard with a flawless first round of seven under par 64, but he had to settle for second place at the end of day one, with India’s Jeev Milkha Singh joining Spain’s Alvaro Velasco on six under after rounds of 65.
Molinari’s outstanding effort signalled a complete return to form for the 2005 US Amateur champion after he discovered an alternative cure to the tendonitis problem that destroyed the second half of his 2007 season. The 28 year old won twice on the 2007 Challenge Tour to secure his place on The 2008 European Tour before his game was crippled by injury.
“I had tendonitis in the left wrist and I couldn't get rid of it. But I went to see the guys at AC Milan, the football team, who help me out a lot with my fitness. I went to see them and they told me that the way I close my mouth, all of the muscles in the left, upper side of my body they got tightened up.
“So whenever I was hitting a lot of balls or stretching the muscles a lot, the tendon was getting inflamed. And so they put a gum shield on my lower teeth that I use when I play and when I go to the gym. It's helped me very well because the last couple of weeks, I've felt very good and I've had no more pain in the wrist.”
Despite a one hour and 45 minute morning delay due to heavy fog around the Celtic Manor Resort, the Twenty Ten Course proved a hit with many of The European Tour’s big name players, with Ryder Cup contenders such as Darren Clarke (one under) Nick Dougherty (four under), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño (four under), Padraig Harrington (one under) Robert Karlsson (four under), Graeme McDowell (two under),Rory McIlroy (three under) and Colin Montgomerie (two under) all finding their feet on the venue for Europe’s next home Ryder Cup match against the United States.
