GALLACHER (73) BEST OF SCOTS
ON FIRST DAY OF VOLVO
CHINA OPEN

Stephen Gallacher was the only Scot to get anywhere near the par of 72 in the first round of the Volvo China Open at Shanghai Silport Golf Club.
Gallacher, pictured right, had a 73 but Marc Warren had to settle for a 77 while Barry Hume, who plays regularly on the Asian Tour, had another day when he played like a double-figure handicap amateur. Barry marked up an 11-over-par 83.
Unheralded Huang Ming-jie from China provided the sparkle for the local charge when he grabbed the joint first round lead on three-under-par 68 with Raphael Jacquelin of France.
Huang, 26, fired a three-under-par 68 with seven birdies against four dropped shots.
Jacquelin fired five birdies against two bogeys.
Thanks to steady putting, American Gary Rusnak was in lone third position a stroke back while Australia’s Unho Park and Adam Blyth, New Zealander Richard Lee and England’s Yasin Ali were tied fourth, two strokes off the pace.
Also sharing fourth place were local talent Qiu Zhi-feng, Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, South African Richard Sterne, Dutchman Robert Jan-derksen, Chris Hanell and Michael Jonzon of Sweden and Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn.
“It is my first time leading a tournament. I shall keep my pace and hope to play it safe,” said Huang, who is making his third Volvo China Open appearance.
Huang did not have the best of starts with bogeys in the first three holes. He recovered with a birdie on the fifth before dropping another shot on the sixth hole. He bounced back with birdies on the eighth and ninth holes before firing four more birdies on the back nine.
UNSTEADY START
“I was not really steady in the first few holes. I saw the results from the morning session players and it was not good at all. I then targeted to finish one over, so I am very happy to finish at three under,” said Huang, who turned professional in 2003. The Sichuan-born talent was ranked fourth on the domestic circuit last season. He was also the 2001 China Amateur Open winner.
Jacquelin, a winner on the European Tour, adjusted well to the gusting winds at Shanghai Silport as he breezed through the front nine with three birdies. Two more birdies against an equal number of bogeys on his inward nine steered him to the top of the leaderboard alongside Huang.
“I am very pleased with my result. I worked on the putting green and it feels pretty good. I missed two short putts at the end, but on a day like this, it is hard to play without any mistakes,” said the 32-year-old Frenchman, who finished runner-up in Portugal two weeks ago.
“I am okay in the wind. I can manage the ball and hit it low so it is all right for me. The wind is not as strong today as it was in Portugal, The wind is a bit more across here. If the wind gets any stronger the greens will get very difficult. They are superb at the moment but will dry out. I hope it stays like this,” he added.
With five birdies against a bogey and a double bogey, American Rusnak believes that his performance in the opening round was a reflection of his hard work on the putting green the past two weeks.
“I’ve been working on my putting really hard and it paid off today. I putted poorly this year and it’s good to see one good putting round. I’ve been near the top after the first round many times, it’s just the start, nothing more,” said Rusnak.
“I had 23 putts today. I started on the back nine with six one-putt greens in a row. On the par-3 sixth hole, I almost made a hole in one. I hit the stick with me tee shot,” he added.
England’s Simon Dyson retired due to food poisoning on Tuesday.

FIRST-ROUND LEADERS
Par 72
68 Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Huang Ming-jie (Chi).
69 Gary Rusnak (US).
70 Richard Lee (NZ), Qiu Zhi-feng (Chi), Unho Park (Aus), Robert-Jan Derksen (Net), Chris Hanell (Swe), Thomas Bjorn (Den), Richard Sterne (SAf), Graeme McDowell (NIr), Yasin Ali (Eng), Adam Blyth (Aus), Michael Jonzon (Swe).
71 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa), Keith Horne (SAf), Garry Houston (Wal), Maarten Lafeber (Net), Damien Mcgrane (Ire), Andres Romero (Arg), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Marcel Siem (Ger), Scott Hend (Aus), James Kingston (SAf), Edward Loar (US).
72 Peter Hanson (Swe), Andrew Mclardy (SAf), Steven Jeppesen (Swe), Kane Webber (Aus), Brett Rumford (Aus), Peter Lawrie (Ire), Markus Brier (Aut), Prom Meesawat (Tha), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Jason Knutzon (US), Gary Emerson (Eng), David Griffiths (Eng), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Mark Pilkington (Wal).
Scots' scores:
73 Stephen Gallacher.
77 Marc Warren.
83 Barry Hume.