Ryder Cup man Karlsson shows
a bit of form in Cologne

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Robert Karlsson gave Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo some welcome good news with a first-round 67, five under par, in the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Cologne.
Karlsson carded seven birdies and two bogeys at Gut Larchenhof to trail co-leaders Richard Finch and Jean-Francois Lucquin by a shot, easily the best display from the four team members on show in Cologne.
Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez had six birdies but four bogeys and a double bogey in a 72 matched by rookie Graeme McDowell, while Denmark's Soren Hansen - the defending champion but another rookie - returned a 73.
Karlsson, who made his cup debut in the record-equalling victory at the K Club in 2006, had been reported to be suffering from a neck injury after taking three weeks off.
But the 6ft 5in Swede reiterated that those reports had been wide of the mark after instantly returning to the sort of form which has brought him nine top-10 finishes this season - including eighth in the Masters, fourth in the US Open and seventh in The Open.
Finch has failed to match Karlsson's consistency this season but has claimed two tournament victories after narrowly keeping his card at the end of last season.
The 31-year-old from Hull only secured his playing rights by finishing seventh in the final event of 2007 but won the New Zealand Open in December and then added the Irish Open in May - despite memorably falling into a river while playing his third shot on the 72nd hole.
FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72
66 Richard Finch, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra)
67 Robert Karlsson (Swe)
68 Ross Fisher
69 Peter Hanson (Swe), James Kingston (Rsa)
70 Bernhard Langer (Ger), Damien McGrane, Paul Lawrie, Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Richard Sterne (Rsa)
71 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Michael Campbell (Nzl), Phillip Price, Maarten Lafeber (Ned), David Frost (Rsa), Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Alexander Noren (Swe), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha)
72 Graeme McDowell, Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Marcel Siem (Ger), Peter Lawrie, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Marc Warren, Sven Struver (Ger), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), David Dixon, Richard Green (Aus), Markus Brier (Aut)
73 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Steve Webster, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Soren Hansen (Den), Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe), David Lynn, Peter Hedblom (Swe), Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), John Daly (USA), Stephen Dodd, Ariel Canete (Arg), Paul McGinley, Gregory Havret (Fra)
74 Anton Haig (Rsa), Scott Strange (Aus), Alastair Forsyth, Martin Kaymer (Ger), Stuart Appleby (Aus), Johan Edfors (Swe), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra)
75 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Graeme Storm, Fred Couples (USA), Oliver Fisher, Thomas Levet (Fra)
76 Anders Hansen (Den), David Howell, Darren Clarke, Simon Dyson, Mark Brown (USA), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Mardan Mamat (Sin), Retief Goosen (Rsa), Gregory Bourdy (Fra)
77 Hennie Otto (Rsa), Pablo Martin (Spa), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)
78 Daniel Chopra (Swe)
79 Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind)
80 Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Niclas Fasth (Swe), Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa), John Bickerton
81 Daniel Vancsik (Arg)
84 Scott Drummond