SYDNEY, Feb 7: The son of an English chicken farmer shot eight birdies and an eagle to snatch the first round lead at the ANZ golf championship in Sydney Thursday.
Jonathan Lomas, 33, collected two points for each of his birdies and five for his eagle to finish the opening day with 20 points and a handy five point lead in the modified stableford event.
Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin finished the day second overall with 15 points after stringing together five consecutive birdies on the back nine, with Swede Carl Pettersson third on 13 points after a bogey-free round.
Australia’s Euan Walters and Englishmen David Lynn were tied for fourth on 12 points with a further 16 players within another two points.
Lomas was named European rookie of the year in 1994 after he briefly led the British Open at Turnberry that year but has won just one title since, the 1996 Czech Open, after being troubled by sciatic pain in both his legs.
He seemed certain to win the 2000 French Open until Colin Montgomerie eagled two of the last five holes to snatch the title from him and also finished third in the recent South African Open to suggest he is on his way back up.
The ANZ championship, which replaced the now defunct Greg Norman International, is the first official stableford tournament on the European Tour in a decade.
ANZ first round scores:
20 Jonathan Lomas, 15 Raphael Jacquelin, 13 Carl Pettersson, 12 Euan Walters, David Lynn, 11 Patrick Sjoland, Marcus Norgren, Andre Stoltz, David Smail, Scott Laycock, Jean-Francois Remesy, 10 Yeh Wei-Tze, Stephen Gallagher, Greg Turner, Joakim Haeggman, Craig Parry, David Howell, Gary Orr, Trevor Immelman, Carlos Rodiles, David Gilford (England).
Note: Tournament played under modified stableford points format, with points awarded for the number of shots taken on each hole as follows:
Albatross - eight points
Eagle - five points
Birdie - two points
Par - zero points
Bogey - one point deducted
Double bogey - two points deducted
Worse than double bogey - three points deducted.
NORDBERG LEADS: Sweden’s Olle Nordberg, a fixture on the Asian circuit, and tour rookie Edward Loar of the United States shared first day honours at the 200,000 dollar Myanmar Open Thursday.
The leading duo fired blistering seven-under-par 65s to open a three-shot advantage over little-known Aung Win of Myanmar and Thai veteran Suthep Bunpimuck at Yangon Golf Club.
Asian number-one Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand carded a 69 and is among three players who are a further stroke behind.
Thailand-based Nordberg, who has been playing in the region since 1995, used a borrowed broomhandle putter to roll in seven birdies as he launched another bid for a first Asian PGA victory.
His jump into the co-lead came as a welcome surprise, considering he has been bothered by a stiff back and poor form.
First round scores:
65 - Olle Nordberg (Swe), Edward Loar (USA)
68 - Suthep Bunpimuck (Tha), Aung Win (Mya)
69 - Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Lu Wen-teh (Twn), Robert Jacobson (USA)
70 - Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Chawalit Plaphol (Tha), Arjun Atwal (Ind), Songphan Phuakprakhong (Tha), Simon Yates (Sco), Arjun Singh (Ind), Stephen Lindskog (Swe), Steve Jurgensen (USA), Min Naing (Mya), Win Naing Tun (Mya)
71 - Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Sushi Ishigaki (Jpn), Mike Cunning (USA), Thammanoon Sriroj (Tha), Boonchu Ruangkit (Tha), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), M. Ramayah (Mas), Masamichi Uehira (Jpn), Rodrigo Cuello (Phi), Gary Rusnak (USA), Anthony Kang (Kor), Muhammed Munir (Pak), Marciano Pucay (Phi).—AFP