MAYNOOTH, Ireland, 20 May 2005 — Briton Nick Dougherty and Sweden’s Klas Eriksson fashioned four-under-par 68s to lead the Irish Open by a stroke after yesterday’s first round.
It was a tough day for Simon Khan who incurred the European Tour’s record fine for slow play, 8,000 pounds ($14,720), for taking 16 seconds too long to play his tee-shot at the 17th.
The 32-year-old Englishman had already been fined 4,000 pounds at the British Masters the previous week and it was his fifth slow play indiscretion in two years. He shrugged off his woes by shooting a 70 to earlier lie only one shot off the pace but Dougherty and Eriksson’s afternoon rounds left him two shots adrift.
Dougherty, 22, the Singapore Masters winner in January, had an eagle on the eighth and caught Eriksson by birdieing three of the last six holes.
With the weather not as bad as feared and tees brought forward at seven holes to shorten the 7,301 yards Colin Montgomerie-designed course by 135 yards, scoring was not as high as predicted. Four players shot 69s to share third place — Mattias Elisasson, another Swede, Australian Peter O’Malley, Britain’s Stephen Dodd and Irishman Colm Moriarty.
Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington, who called the course ‘penal’ and ‘severe’, the day before, had contrasting rounds.
While Clarke is only two off the lead, Harrington, playing in Khan’s group, reckoned rushing before Khan got his slow-play warning had cost him three shots by double-bogeying the 14th and bogeying the 15th to leave him five shots off the pace. Amateur Rory McIlroy, bounced back from his disappointing 82 and 81 on his European Tour debut last week. The 16-year-old Northern Irishman shot a 71 to share 13th place.
Buckle Rides Into First Round
Lead in Philippine Open
In Manila, Australian rookie Andrew Buckle fired a five-under-par 66 to grab the first round lead in the $200,000 Philippine Open yesterday with local hero Angelo Que in the chasing pack.
The 22-year-old former Australian amateur champion, fresh from a tied second finish at the SK Telecom Open in Korea two weeks ago, was in impressive form at the par-71 Mount Malayarat Golf and Country Club and ended the day one stroke ahead of Somkiet Srisanga of Thailand.Filipino favorite Que and amateur star Juvic Pagunsan, last year’s runner-up, led the home charge with matching 68s to share third place with American Bryan Saltus, Scotland’s John Wither and Australian duo Chris Travers and Adam Blyth in the Asian Tour event.
Big-hitting Buckle started his round from the 10th tee and started his run on 17, knocking his approach close to the pin for an easy tap-in birdie. A two-putt birdie on the par five 18th saw him turn in two under before he sank a monster 30-footer on the first hole for his third straight birdie.
