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STRAFFAN, July 5: South African Darren Fichardt bounced straight back from his Irish Open play-off disappointment last Sunday to capture a share of the European Open first round lead Thursday.
Fichardt was encouraged by compatriot Retief Goosen to try to forget his missed three-footer at the first sudden-death hole last week before Dane Soren Hansen went on to claim victory at Fota Island.
He responded with a five-under-par 67 in soaking conditions at the K Club to tie the lead with Australian Jarrod Moseley.
Both the top men had to knuckle down on an atrocious afternoon after Argentina’s Jorge Berendt had set the morning target of 68 in damp but much better conditions.
New Zealand’s Michael Campbell and Swede Joakim Haeggman share third place with Berendt after 68s in the afternoon downpour.
Greg Norman and Colin Montgomerie carded 69s in the morning, but an afternoon 74 by Darren Clarke left the defending champion seven strokes off the pace.
A birdie on the last gave joint leader Fichardt new hope that he can add to his 2001 Brazil Open victory in Sao Paulo.
Last Sunday, Hansen had looked dead in the water after going into the lake at the first sudden-death hole, and the other two men in a four-way play-off, Swede Niclas Fasth and England’s Richard Bland, could only match the Dane’s determined par.
But, after running a 45ft eagle putt three feet past, Fichardt missed the birdie putt back and the shoot-out went on.
When Hansen birdied the fourth extra hole, Fichardt and his caddie wife Natasha, a psychologist, were left with only a share of second place, knowing a golden chance had gone begging.
Moseley, also looking for his second win after taking the 1999 Heineken Classic title at his home town of Perth, came alight on his back nine, the K Club’s front half, throwing in four birdies in six holes to join Fichardt.
Compatriot Brett Rumford holed in one at the 12th but missed out on a car - on offer for an ace at the eighth.
Leading first round scores
67 Darren Fichardt (South Africa), Jarrod Moseley (Australia)
68 Jorge Berendt (Argentina), Michael Campbell (New Zealand), Joakim Haeggman (Sweden)
69 Sebastien Delagrange (France), Greg Norman (Australia), Niclas Fasth (Sweden), Colin Montgomerie, Barry Lane, John Dwyer (Ireland), Chris Gane
70 Steen Tinning (Denmark), Mark McNulty (Zimbabwe), Mark Mouland, Sven Struver (Germany), Robert Karlsson (Sweden), Paul Lawrie, Lucas Parsons (Australia), Henrik Nystrom (Sweden), Jamie Donaldson
71 Patrik Sjoland (Sweden), Sam Torrance, Santiago Luna (Spain), Bradley Dredge, Carl Pettersson (Sweden), Richard Johnson (Sweden), Neil Manchip, Mark Pilkington, Jean-Francois Remesy (France), Emanuele Canonica (Italy), Anders Hansen (Denmark), Retief Goosen (South Africa), Paul Casey, Sandy Lyle
GOSSET SINKS NINE BIRDIES
LEMONT (Illinois): David Gossett notched nine birdies en route to a seven-under-par 65 and the early first-round lead at the Western Open Thursday.
Jonathan Byrd and John Cook are two strokes further back while Lee Porter, Pete Jordan, England’s Luke Donald and Kenny Perry shot a four-under 68.
Defending champion Scott Hoch opened with an even-par 72.
Gossett, 23, who won the John Deere Classic last July, began his round on the back nine and carded four birdies and a bogey at the turn. He then birdied four of the first six holes on the front nine before carding a bogey on the par-four seventh.
He then notched his ninth birdie of the day on his final hole to record his second-lowest opening round of the season.
He scored an opening-round 64 at the Byron Nelson Classic in May.
First round scores
65 David Gosset
66 Bob Estes
67 Jonathan Byrd, John Cook, Davis Love III, Scott Verplank
68 Lee Porter, Pete Jordan, Luke Donald (Britain), Kenny Perry, Franklin Langham, Bradley Hughes (Australia)
69 Shaun Micheel, Justin Leonard, Glen Day, Joey Sindelar, Brian Gay, Stephen Gangluff, Blaine McCallister, Robert Allenby (Australia), Joel Edwards.—Reuters
