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| November 8, 2002 | Friday | Ramazan 2,1423 |
Cabrera upstages big guns
SOTOGRANDE, Spain, Nov 7: Argentina’s Angel Cabrera birdied the last four holes for an eight-under-par 63 and an early four-shot lead in the first round of the European Tour’s season-ending Volvo Masters Thursday.
The big-hitting Argentine, winner of the Benson and Hedges International in May, was one of only two players to produce a blemish-free card on a day of bright sunshine at par-71 Valderrama.
He picked up shots at the second, fifth, 10th, 11th, 15th, 16th, 17th and the last to finish four strokes ahead of Welshman Phillip Price, who returned a 67.
Englishmen Simon Dyson and Brian Davis were among a group of five tied for third on 68 as several of the bigger names in the elite 66-man field struggled on day one.
Ireland’s Padraig Harrington got off to a faltering start in his bid to wrest the European order of merit title from Retief Goosen, incurring a two-stroke penalty at the opening hole.
The 31-year-old Irishman, trailing Goosen by 23,119 euros ($23,130) in the standings, ran up a double-bogey six at Valderrama’s 389-yard first after incorrectly repairing a pitch mark just off the green.
Harrington, who had already received a free drop on that hole after hooking his tee shot via trees into a drainage ditch, immediately realised his mistake and summoned a European Tour rules official.
But he was given a two-shot penalty because the repaired pitch mark had not been on the putting surface. He then chipped up on to the green and made the putt to begin his opening round with a six.
Harrington dropped another shot at the par-five fourth, where he three-putted, but recovered with birdies at the fifth, 11th and 13th to lie one-over-par with five holes to play.
Goosen, the reigning European number one, began promisingly with a birdie at the par-four first after hitting his approach to nine feet.
But, like Harrington, the South African then struggled. Dropped shots on two, seven and 13, a double-bogey seven at the 11th and a rare birdie on eight left the 2001 U.S. Open champion at three over with five holes remaining.
World number six Sergio Garcia, another late starter, raced to three-under-par after picking up shots at the first, second and fourth.
But the 22-year-old Spaniard, the pre-tournament favourite, bogeyed seven and nine before getting back to three under with birdies at the 11th and 14th.
The 24-year-old Dyson birdied three of the last six holes to set the early pace before being joined by Davis, who bounced back from a double-bogey five at the third with six birdies before dropping a shot on 14.
It was a poor day, though, for England’s Nick Dougherty, who is the leading candidate for the 2002 European Tour’s rookie of the year title.
The former Walker Cup amateur, who is lying 33rd in the European order of merit, double-bogeyed the last two holes to card a five-over-par 76.
First round scores
63 Angel Cabrera
67 Phillip Price
68 Simon Dyson, Brian Davis, Fredrik Jacobson, Bradley Dredge, Steen Tinning
69 Maarten Lafeber, Jarmo Sandelin, Alex Cejka, Sergio Garcia
70 Richard Green, Carl Pettersson, Thomas Levet, Ignacio Garrido, Colin Montgomerie
71 Jarrod Moseley, Malcolm MacKenzie, Soren Hansen,, Niclas Fasth, Bernhard Langer, Justin Rose, Eduardo Romero
72 Peter O’Malley, Andrew Coltart, Jamie Spence, David Gilford, Graeme McDowell, Costantino Rocca, Robert Karlsson, Paul Lawrie, Adam Scott, Trevor Immelman.—Reuters
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