LAWRIE, O'HARA & ORR
SHARE LEAD WITH SIX
OTHERS ON 65 IN CELTIC
MANOR WALES OPEN

Three Scots - Paul Lawrie, Steven O'Hara and Gary Orr - figure in a nine-way logjam on four-under-par 65 at the top of the leaderboard in the first round of the Celtic Manor Wales Open at the Newport venue.
For Lawrie, winner of the tournament in 2002, it was a welcome return to form with the Open at Carnoustie getting ever closer.
The Aberdonian, pictured right, had birdies at the fifth, seventh and two short holes, the 11th and 15th, and also the 18th He bogeyed the fourth for halves of 34 and 31.
By missing seven of his last nine halfway cuts Lawrie has dropped back outside the world's top 250 and has slumped to 132nd on the European Order of Merit. But the 1999 Open champion, no longer exempt for all the majors in America, said: "I was six under after 14 on Monday at Carnoustie (Paul was there on a company day), using a new putter and holed a good few eight to 10-footers with it today.
"I don't think I've actually been playing that poorly, but I haven't been knocking them in as I'd want to. But that's the game, isn't it? You don't always get what you think you should. I always enjoy coming here to Celtic Manor. The hotel is one of the nicest we stay in on Tour, I feel comfortable and I have had a good record."
As well as winning and setting a course record five years ago, he lost a play-off to Paul McGinley in 2001, albeit all on a different lay-out to the one being used this week. The bad weather was never likely to alter his good feelings about the venue that will stage the 2010 Ryder Cup.
Lawrie continued: "Obviously it's quite like back home for me. The weather is never that great, but I don't mind. I don't wake up wishing for it, but when it comes it doesn't bother me."
A 35-foot chip-in on the short 15th, his sixth, certainly helped his cause and his only mistake came when he three-putted the fourth. Lawrie is looking forward to returning to Carnoustie for the Open in just seven weeks, especially as his eight and 12-year-old sons will be watching him there this time.
He added: "It's been spoken about for quite a while now, so I am kind of wishing that it would happen so we can get on with it. You can't beat having an Open an hour from your house, sleeping in your own bed."
Steven O'Hara from Colville Park bogeyed his last hole or else he would have been the clear leader on 64. Steven started at the 10th and birdied the 15th before marking up an eagle 3 at the long 16th to cover his first nine holes in three-under-par 31. Then he birdied the first and third and was five under par with three to play. A bogey at the ninth, his last, took just a little bit of the shine off a fine round.
Gary Orr birdied the third, fourth, fifth and nine after a bogey at the second. He birdied the 11th on the second nine and compiled his 65 with halves of 32 and 33.
Alson on 65 are the in-form fortysomething Paul Broadhurst, Ricardo Gonzalez (Argentina), Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark), Brett Rumford (Austalia), Spaniard Jose Manuel Lara and New Zealander Steve Alker.
Another Scot, Alastair Forsyth, is only one shot behind on the 66 mark after halves of 33, while Stephen Gallacher is one of a crowd on 67.
Not all the Scots plundered the birdies and eagles. Former European Tour rookie of the year Marc Warren from East Kilbride required 43 shots to cover the first nine holes. He had a double bogey 6 at the fourth, a duble bogey 6 at the fifth and adouble bogey 5 at the short eighth. He came whistling home in 33 which represented eight pars and a birdie 2 at the short 15th.

FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 69
Players from GB&I unless stated.
65 Gary Orr, Steve Alker (NZ), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Steven O'Hara, Paul Broadhurst, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Brett Rumford (Aus), Paul Lawrie,
66 Joakim Haeggman (Swe), Christian Cevaer (Fra), Mattias Eliasson (Swe), James Kingston (SAf), Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Liam Bond, Michael Campbell (NZ), Oliver Wilson, Matthew Zions (Aus), Peter Lawrie, Alastair Forsyth, Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Bradley Dredge
67 Garry Houston, Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Phillip Price, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), David Lynn, Simon Khan, Robert Rock, Stephen Gallacher, James Heath, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa), Mark Foster, Richard Sterne (SAf).
68 David Carter, Andrew Tampion (Aus), David Griffiths, David Frost (SAf), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Edward Rush, Anton Haig (SAf), Shaun P Webster, Shiv Kapur (Ind), Kyron Sullivan, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Gary Murphy, Phillip Archer, David Bransdon (Aus), Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Thomas Levet (Fra).
69 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Ross Fisher, Matthew Richardson, Sion Bebb, Steven Jeppesen (Swe), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Andrew Raitt, David Park, Simon Wakefield, Graeme Storm, Lee Slattery, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor), Alexander Noren (Swe), Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Terry Price (Aus), Simon Thornton, Gregory Havret (Fra), Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa), Andrew Coltart, Marcel Siem (Ger), Nick Dougherty, Julien Guerrier (Fra), Craig Smith, Alexandre Rocha (Bra), Sam Walker, Marcus Higley, Emanuele Canonica (Ita), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind).
70 Anders Hansen (Den), Benn Barham, Jean Van de Velde (Fra), Peter Hedblom (Swe), Oliver Fisher, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Peter Hanson (Swe), Gary Marks, Sam Little, Miles Tunnicliff, Manuel Quiros (Spa), Henrik Nystrom (Swe), Retief Goosen (SAf), Colin Montgomerie, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Richard McEvoy, Peter Senior (Aus), Lee S James.
71 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Christopher Hanell (Swe), Kenneth Ferrie, Robert Karlsson (Swe), Anthony Wall, Sandy Lyle, Ian Garbutt, Maarten Lafeber (Net), Darren Fichardt (SAf), Mardan Mamat (Sin), Gary Lockerbie, David Drysdale, Richard Finch, Tom Whitehouse, Taichi Teshima (Jpn), Ariel Canete (Arg), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Barry Lane.
72 Ben Evans, Damien McGrane, Christian Nilsson (Swe), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Rafael Echenique (Arg), Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe), Gordon J Brand, Carl Suneson (Spa), Alessandro Tadini (Ita), Andrew Marshall, Matthew Millar (Aus), Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Jonathan Lomas
73 Richard Bland, Steve Webster, Peter Gustafsson (Swe), Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice), Simon Dyson, Gary Emerson, Mark Pilkington, Sven Struver (Ger), Jose Manuel Carriles (Spa), Wade Ormsby (Aus), Peter O'Malley (Aus).
74 Graeme McDowell, Luis Claverie (Spa), Scott Drummond, Santiago Luna (Spa), Carlos Rodiles (Spa).
75 Rhys Enoch, Francois Calmels (Fra).
76 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Marc Warren.
77 Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Mark Litton.
78 Gareth Davies, Llewellyn Matthews, Adrien Mork (Fra).

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