MADRID, Oct 26: European Tour rankings leader Retief Goosen overcame swing problems to card a flawless five-under-par 66 in the Madrid Open first round on Thursday.

The South African lagged three shots behind defending champion Padraig Harrington, but his opening round, which included five birdies, offered no relief for Darren Clarke, his only realistic rival on the European money list who was an afternoon starter at Club de Campo.

Goosen’s birdie with a pitch to just four feet on the elevated 18th green completed a blemish-free round and left Clarke, already $680,000 adrift in the order of merit, with a mountain to climb.

“I’m very pleased with the score with the way I was hitting the ball,” Goosen said. “I wasn’t very comfortable with my swing. I think the wind last week in Scotland has rather blown my rhythm.

“I tried different shots on almost every tee to see which one I was most comfortable with and it worked out.

“Now I want to post a good second-round score and see how we go at the weekend.”

If Goosen, the US Open champion, takes the $200,000 first prize he will be untouchable, and his start promises to shut out Clarke, who needs to win at least two events, including the season-ending Volvo Masters, to have a chance of becoming Europe’s number one for the first time.

Goosen spoke of his improved consistency, which has encouraged him to play on the European and US tours next year, revealing he has bought a home in Florida to reduce the effects of jet-lag.

“I plan to play 15 tournaments in the States and 15 in Europe,” the 32-year-old said. “I’m not too worried about burning myself out because I’ve made myself a base in Orlando near to Ernie (Els) so we can share a few barbecues.”

Despite his fine start, Goosen trailed Harrington, whose eight-under-par 63 included an eagle and eight birdies.

Harrington leads Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher, nephew of former Ryder Cup captain Bernard, by a stroke and is two better than local favourite Carlos Rodiles.

Leading first round scores (Britain unless stated, a-denotes amateur):

63 Padraig Harrington (Ireland)

64 Stephen Gallacher

65 Carlos Rodiles (Spain), Des Smyth (Ireland), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain)

66 Retief Goosen (South Africa), Phillip Price, Barry Lane, Andrew Marshall, Robert Coles, Brian Davis, Graeme Storm

67 Greg Owen, Mark Roe, Johan Rystrom (Sweden), Marc Farry (France), David Higgins (Ireland), Darren Clarke, Markus Brier (Austria), Henrik Nystrom (Sweden), Fernando Roca (Spain) 68 Thomas Gogele (Germany), Greg Turner (New Zealand), Steve Webster, Michele Reale (Italy), Simon Dyson, Van Phillips, a-Pablo Martin Benavides (Spain), Angel Cabrera (Argentina), David Park, Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Anders Hansen (Denmark), David Lynn, Malcolm MacKenzie

69 Lucas Parsons (Australia), Soren Hansen (Denmark), Diego Borrego (Spain), Alvaro Salto (Spain), Des Terblanche (South Africa), Paul Casey, Richard Green (Australia), Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain), Ian Garbutt, Alastair Forsyth, Mark James, John Bickerton, Fredrik Andersson (Sweden)—Reuters