HENDERSON'S DREAM START BUT

IT'S AN URQUHART NIGHTMARE

Scott Henderson and Murray Urquhart had contrasting fortunes in the first round of the Kenya Open at Karen Golf Club, Nairobi today (Thursday).
Henderson, pictured right, ended the opening day of the European Challenge Tour event sitting pretty in joint fourth place with a two-under-par 68.
Meanwhile Urquhart must have wondered why he bothered making the long haul from Inverness to deepest Africa. Murray shot a 13-over-par 83 and has little or no chance of making the projected halfway cut of two-over par 142.
Henderson gave his confidence a massive boost with an eagle 3 at the 580yd third hole. He parred his way out in two-under-par 33, dropped his first and only shot to par at the 13th but cancelled that out with a birdie at the 17 to be three shots behind leader Carlos del Moral from Spain.
Carnoustie's Eric Ramsay is sharing 15th place on level par 70 after a five-birdie round that had the shine taken off it with a double bogey 5 at the short sixth in halves of 36 and 34.
Fifer Peter Whiteford is also on the 70 mark (33-37) after birdieing the long second and short fifth on the way out but dropping shots at the 12th and 17th on the way in.
Greig Hutcheon from Banchory is sharing 55th place on two-over 72 with a round that had three birdies - at the 12th, 17th and 18th - but five bogeys between the 10th and 16th.
Back to Murray Urquhart for whom it must have been one of the worst if not the absolute pits of a round since he turned pro.
The Highlander had a double bogey 7 at the long second and a double bogey 6 at the eighth with single bogeys at the third and ninth for six-over 41 to the turn.
It did not get any better on the inward route. He bogeyed the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th, then double-bogey the 15th and dropped one more final shot at the 17th for 42 home.

Apart from Urquhart, other Scots on the wrong side of the +2 projected cut figure after 36 holes are the Doherty brothers from South Wales, Paul and Jack, on three-over 73, Graeme Brown from Montrose and former Scottish amateur champion Andrew McArthur (Windyhill) on four-over 74.

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES

Par 70
65 Carlos del Moral (Spa).
67 Oliver Whitely (Eng), Klas Eriksson (Swe).
68 Scott Henderson (Sco), Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Wilhelm Schauman (Swe), Liam Bond (Wal), Alec McGuinness (Ken).
Other scores:
70 Eric Ramsay (Sco), Robert Dinwiddie (Eng), Iain Pyman (Eng), Jamie Donaldson (Wal), Tim Milford (Eng), Peter Whiteford (Sco), Gary Clark (Eng).
71 Stuart Manley (Wal), Stuart Cage (Eng), Zane Scotland (Eng).
72 Ross McGowan (Eng), Greig Hutcheon (Sco).
73 Paul Doherty (Sco), Jack Doherty (Sco).
74 Graeme Brown (Sco), Andrew McArthur (Sco).
83 Murray Urquhart (Sco).