Late eagle gives Hansen lead in European Open

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ASH, England (AP) -- Anders Hansen eagled his 17th hole for a 7-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the European Open on Thursday.

The 38-year-old Dane holed a difficult chip for a three at the 563-yard eighth hole to move ahead of early leaders Peter Hanson of Sweden and Thomas Aiken of South Africa. Sam Little of England and Jyoti Randhawa of India also finished with 66 to make it a four-way tie for second.

"I've learned lately that I have to stay patient," said Hansen, who started his round at the 10th. "The chip was awkward, but we worked out a plan how to play it, found a spot where I could land it and it worked out beautifully."

Hanson, meanwhile, said his play was boosted by the hole-in-one he made in a playoff Monday to help him grab the last European spot in next month's U.S. Open.

"It was an enormous confidence boost," the Swede said. "And with everybody still congratulating me today, you get so much energy out of it. That had a lot to do with today. So it felt really easy. I was striking it really easy, iron shots were very nice and I made a bunch of putts."

Aiken, a 25-year-old South African, made six birdies on his last nine holes after getting a late invite to the event on Monday.

"I made a couple birdies on the first nine but the back nine was quite special," said Aiken, who does not have a Tour card. "It has been a fantastic year. I'm hoping to get as many invites as possible."

Aiken holed from 30 feet for birdie at the sixth, but his best shot was a 5-iron to one foot at the 187-yard seventh hole.

Some of the big names struggled, as former U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell had a quadruple bogey 9 on his third hole on the way to an 80. Henrik Stenson had two sevens in four holes and shot a 4-over 76, while defending champion Ross Fisher struggled to a 73 -- 10 strokes off his first-round 63 last year when he won by seven strokes.

Irish Open champion Shane Lowry, who is playing his first event as a pro after winning 11 days ago as an amateur, shot a disappointing 6-over 78.

"I didn't have too many expectations. I felt a bit flat, I suppose, and didn't play great," Lowry said. "I'm actually glad to have that round over."

Sergio Garcia, the runner-up last year, double-bogeyed his first hole but then had a run of birdie-birdie-eagle on his second nine to finish with a 69. Graeme McDowell bogeyed four of his first seven holes but still shot 70.

Garcia hooked his opening drive at the 10th into heavy rough beside the lake and needed two shots just to chop back out to the fairway.

"I didn't hit that bad of a shot, but unfortunately it found the hazard," he said. "To tell the truth I didn't play that poorly on the front nine. I just got punished really hard for a couple of shots I missed."

The Spaniard, who said yesterday his form had suffered after breaking up with Greg Norman's daughter Morgan-Leigh in March, played the second nine in 5-under 31.

"I rolled a couple of putts in and it couldn't have been better," he said.

Hanson's ace on the second playoff hole Monday came from a 6-iron of 202 yards, and he said it was the result of working hard to improve his long game.

"I had been struggling for the last two weeks, Irish Open and Wentworth," Hanson said. "I haven't been hitting the ball very well. I put in a tremendous amount of work last week, 10 or 12-hour days, and had my coach over (from Sweden) to get the long game back in position."