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LOCH LOMOND (Scotland), July 12: Ernie Els was relieved to be off the course after carding an opening 68 in fluctuating weather conditions at the Scottish Open Thursday.
The world number three, playing in his first event of the year on the European continent, collected four birdies and one bogey to end the day three strokes behind first-round leader Justin Rose of England.
“I’m just glad it’s all over!” said the 2000 winner after playing through a mixture of sunshine, light showers and heavy downpours as a late starter at par-71 Loch Lomond.
There had been fears the previous day that the tournament could be jeopardised by the heavy rain that has hit the Loch Lomond area over the last two months.
But Thursday dawned bright and dry and the first round got underway on time, although several of the fairways became saturated later in the day.
First round scores:
65 Justin Rose
66 Miles Tunnicliff, Fredrik Jacobson
67 a-Barry Hume, John Bickerton, Sandy Lyle, Warren Bennett
68 Michael Hoey, David Howell, Brad Faxon, Dean Wilson, Ernie Els (South Africa), Sam Torrance, Tony Johnstone, Richard Bland, Gordon Brand Jr, Simon Dyson
69 Robert-Jan Derksen, Matt Gogel, Peter O’Malley, Paul McGinley, Paul Lawrie, Rory Sabbatini, Soren Kjeldsen, Stephen Dodd, Jonathan Lomas, Tom Lehman, Per-Ulrik Johansson, Peter Lonard
70 Jean-Francois Remesy, Jamie Spence, Malcolm MacKenzie, Jeev Mikha Singh, Roger Chapman, Darren Clarke, Niclas Fasth, Carl Pettersson, Olle Karlsson, David Lynn, Carlos Rodiles
MILWAUKEE (Wisconsin): Two players with morning tee times at the Greater Milwaukee Open recorded seven-under-par 65s to take the early lead on Thursday.
Kenny Perry, who has four top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this season, carded nine birdies and two bogeys.
Lesser-known Bo Van Pelt, who has made only four cuts in 14 appearances this season, made eight birdies and a lone bogey.
One stroke back is rookie Bryce Molder at six-under, followed by Steve Lowery, Brent Geiberger and D.A. Weibring, all two off the lead.
Defending champion Shigeki Maruyama of Japan was two-under through five holes.
First round scores:
63 Tommy Armour III
64 Kenny Perry, Bo Van Pelt, Deane Pappas (South Africa), Jeff Sluman
65 Bryce Molder, Steve Stricker, Shigeki Maruyama (Japan), Kelly Gibson
66 Steve Lowery, Brent Geiberger, D.A. Weibring, Mike Springer, Bradley Hughes (Australia), Glen Day, David Gossett, Kirk Triplett, Mike Heinen, Chad Campbell, David Peoples, a-Jon Turcott
Other international players
67 Greg Chalmers (Australia), David Morland IV (Canada)
68 Kaname Yokoo (Japan), Carlos Franco (Paraguay), Hidemichi Tanaka (Japan)
69 Glen Hnatiuk (Canada), Brian Watts (Canada), Frank Nobilo (New Zealand).—Reuters
