South African Ernie Els just missed out by a single stroke on the course record at Carnoustie today just hours after he feared he would fail to break 80 in his opening round of the Dunhill Links Pro-Am tournament. Heavy fog delayed play on all three courses being used in this inaugural event, with play delayed by almost four hours at Kingsbarns, and then further rain and strong winds threatened to turn the event into a disaster zone.
"At first I just wanted to stay alive," admitted Els. "It was crazy the way it was blowing and raining and the fog. It was almost ridiculous." However, once the conditions improved, Els produced a magnificent run of six successive birdies at the start of the back nine and earned himself joint top spot on the leaderboard in the race for the massive £550,000 first prize. Els, partnering his father Neels, is actually tied for the lead with his fellow countryman Omar Sandys, but the 24-year-old's round came on the easier Old Course at St Andrews.
He and Els are two ahead of a group of nine players who are tied for third spot, but only three of them - Jonathan Lomas, Peter Fowler and Ricardo Gonzalez - have completed their first rounds. The other six players were at Kingsbarns, where only eight of the 26 groups were able to finish. They and others who have failed to complete their opening rounds will resume play at 8am tomorrow.
This morning's four-hour delay at Kingsbarns has upset the tournament schedule. Officials are hoping to make up lost time tomorrow with the early start, but more delays will cause real problems with the 312-strong field - 156 professionals and 156 amateurs - due to play all three courses by Saturday evening and then the leading 60 pros and 20 teams qualifying for the final round at St Andrews on Sunday.
The race for the European Order of Merit could also be decided this weekend because there is so much money on offer. Retief Goosen, another South African, is the current leader, £460,000 ahead of Irishman Darren Clarke. Goosen shot a three-under-par 69 at Carnoustie, three better than Clarke who recovered from a nightmare start only to bogey the 16th and 17th holes.
Best of the Irish are Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington, who are both on four-under after 15 and 11 holes respectively. In the team section of the competition, there was some controversy after Australian Steve Elkington and Country & Western singer Clay Walker took the lead with a better ball score of 59, 13-under-par, before it was discovered that Walker should have played off a handicap of seven rather than 11.
However, the error was not on the part of Walker which therefore means he does not risk disqualification from the event. "There is no question of any skulduggery or breach of the rules. The player signed for gross scores which are correct and therefore there is no question of disqualification," explained John Paramor, chief referee of the European tour.
A statement from the championship committee said: "Although handicapped as a verified 11 by his home club, The Champions Club, Houston, Texas, and specifically by Jackie Burke, former Ryder Cup captain, Clay has happily accepted the championship committee's decision to cut his handicap to seven. It will apply for the remaining three rounds. Today's score stands."
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
