A stunning display of putting earned Scotland’s Andrew Coltart a share of the first round lead with the English pair of Nick Dougherty and David Gilford in the Scandic Carlsberg Scandinavian Masters at Barsebäck Golf Club in Sweden.
The former Ryder Cup player holed three times from 30 feet or longer, rounding off his day with a putt from 40 feet for birdie to complete a round of 67, five under par, and set a new course record for the altered layout, later matched by Dougherty and Gilford.
A new putter and new routine of keeping his swing as simple and quick as possible “so you don’t engage your brain for too long” paid dividends as he picked up seven birdies with just the two dropped shots.
“I’m playing with a new putter and also putted with a glove on. Something I haven’t done since I was a kid,” said Coltart. “It felt really good and I managed to hole three big putts.”
Dougherty, last year’s Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year, has struggled since being diagnosed as suffering from glandular fever during the Volvo PGA Championship in May. Five missed cuts in his last six outings have seen him slip down the Volvo Order of Merit to 115th place. However, after sleeping for 16 hours last night, he shrugged off his tiredness to match Coltart’s 67, his card only spoilt by a bogey on the 17th after a poor drive.
“I’ve been hitting good shots but not taking advantage of them and when I do have a bad hole I have another one straight after,” said Dougherty. “A lot of the mistakes have been mental – whether that has been because I have been tired I don’t know. But I played well today, a little blip on the 17th from a bad tee shot, but apart from that it has been a good first round.
“I just feel really tired and can sleep for 18 hours without waking. You have to change your diet but it is very tiring and playing a lot of golf is not ideal but I can’t afford to take the time off at the moment. I need to get the job done and then put the clubs away.”
Gilford, another former Ryder Cup player having played in the Matches in 1991, showed signs of the form which brought him six European Tour titles as he birdied the last two holes to join a three-way tie for the lead in his bid for his first victory since 1994
Three players share third place on four under par – Dutchman Marten Lafeber, Kevin Na of Korea and New Zealand’s Stephen Scahill.
Scahill was six under with four holes to play but dropped shots at the 15th and 17th holes cost him the lead. Nevertheless it was a good opening day for the Kiwi who secured his return to The European Tour through the Qualifying School last November.
Another New Zealander Michael Campbell admitted to feeling some after effects of his victory in the Nissan Irish Open last week but still managed to hold his game together well for a two under par 70, a score matched by the newly appointed European Ryder Cup Captain Bernhard Langer.
