Rain hits Spanish Open at new Madrid course

PAUL LAWRIE LETS IT SLIP WITH THREE
BOGEYS ON HIS SECOND NINE

A suspension of play from late morning until half-past four because of torrential rain played havoc with the first round of the Spanish Open at the brand new Centro Nacional de Golf course - the headquarters of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation - in Madrid today.
A lot of players still have to complete their rounds.
The leader in the clubhouse is American Notah Begay III with a four-under-par 68 but France's Gregory Bourdy will resume at the 14th on Friday, standing at four under par, as will Sweden's Steven Jeppesen.
Bathgate's Stephen Gallacher is three under par after 16 holes. On the same mark after 15 holes is Austria's Terry Pilkadaris.
Aberdeen's Paul Lawrie, starting at the 10th, birdied the long 10th and 16th but dropped a shot at the short 14th to be one-under par 35 for his first nine holes. It all went pear-shaped after that for the 1999 Open champion. Paul bogeyed the fourth, eighth and ninth for 39 and a disappointing round of two-over-par 74.
CLUBHOUSE LEADERS
Par 72
68 N Begay III (US).
70 M A Jimenez (Spa), C Rodiles (Spa), P McGinley (Ire).
71 D Higgins (Ire), J Edfors (Swe), H Nystrom (Swe), T Whitehouse (Eng).
72 T Teshima (Jap), S Lyle (Sco), E Canonica (Ita), D Lynn (Eng), D McGrane (Ifre), S Webster (Eng), J M Carriles (Spa).
Other scores:
74 P Lawrie (Sco).
76 W Bennett (Eng).