Ex-Open champ Lawrie among nine sharing Wales Open lead  NEWPORT, Wales (AP) -- Former British Open champion Paul Lawrie and eight others were tied for the lead at 4-under 65 on the unique par-69 Roman Road Course at the Celtic Manor Resort after the first round of the Wales Open on Thursday.
Two more Scots, Gary Orr and Steven O'Hara, shared the lead along with Paul Broadhurst, Brett Rumford, Ricardo Gonzalez, Soren Kjeldsen, Steve Alker and Jose Manuel Lara. Lawrie has struggled with his putting this year, missing the cuts at his three previous events, but has switched to a new putter. "I holed some 8- 10-footers today, which I haven't been making," said Lawrie, who won the 1999 British Open in a playoff when Jean Van de Velde threw it away on the final hole. A group of 13 players on 66 included 2005 U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell and Welsh hope Bradley Dredge. Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen birdied his last hole for a 1-over 70. He felt he has not played well since the weekend of the Masters in April, when he finished tied for second. "I want to get play-fit. At the moment it's a struggle and I'm waiting for it to start happening," Goosen said. "Every time I hit a good shot today, it was the wrong club." Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. |
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