A four under par 68 in testing conditions at Gleneagles helped put a smile back on the face of Mark Foster as the Englishman opened up a two stroke lead after the first round of the Johnnie Walker Championship.
A strong, gusting wind and showers, along with penal knee high rough throughout the PGA Centenary Course made conditions particularly tough during the first round with Foster the only player to break 70. No fewer than a dozen players share second place after two under par 70s in a bunched chasing pack.
Foster, who won the English Amateur Champion in 1994 and 1995 and also played his part in the victorious Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team in 1994 alongside the likes of Stephen Gallacher, Padraig Harrington and David Howell, claimed his maiden European Tour title in 2003 when he won the dunhill championship in South Africa.
But by his standards, the 2005 season has not been a good one and he currently lies the wrong side of the top 115 in 122nd place on The European Tour Order of Merit. But some hard work with psychologist Karl Morris on his mental approach and with Pete Cowen on his technique is starting to pay off.
“I have been too down and too hard on myself,” said Foster after a round that contained six birdies with just the two dropped shots. “I have not been good enough mentally all year.
“Being hard on yourself can be both good and bad. When you are doing well and you are hard on yourself you do a bit more but when you are down and are hard on yourself I just kept pushing myself down. I need to be more upbeat and enjoy myself out on the course. It is easier said than done but I did manage to do that today.”
Among those leading the chase is Scotland’s Ross Drummond, a campaigner on The European Tour for 20 consecutive years until 1997. Whilst he now concentrates on the Tartan Tour in Scotland and has one eye on the European Seniors Tour, for which he becomes eligible from November next year, he still showed he has a few tricks up his sleeve as he posted a two under par 70 to lead the home challenge.
That despite struggling with a bad back which has kept him sidelined for much of the Tartan Tour season.
Paul Casey, who won his maiden European Tour title here at Gleneagles in 2001, showed signs of a return to form with a one under par 71, a score matched by two of this season’s winners in Paul Broadhurst and Steve Webster, who next week will make his debut in the US PGA Championship.
Pre-tournament favourite Colin Montgomerie was forced to retire after just 13 holes of his first round after injuring the fingers of his right hand. A poor shot, which Montgomerie described as “one of the worst he has ever hit” from the middle of the 18th fairway, his ninth, did the initial damage and the problem was aggravated with his subsequent recovery shot from thick rough. With bruising and swelling to his fingers, he was unable to grip the club and had no option to retire and seek treatment ahead of next week’s US PGA Championship.
