EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR

McArthur (69) leads Scots but Lloyd

Saltman (78) is still struggling

Former Scottish amateur champion Andrew McArthur from Windyhill, Glasgow was the leading Scot at the end of the first round of the Challenge Tour's Tusker Kenya Open.
He had a three-under-par 69, one ahead of the next best Scot, Greig Hutcheon from Peterculter with Fifer Peter Whiteford, third in the Scots' roll of honour with a 71.
Jamie McLeary had a 73, George Murray a 76, Raymond Russell a 77 and there's no light at the end of the tunnel yet for Lloyd Saltman who returned a 78.
Paul Symes, European Challenge Tour Press Officer, writes:
A round of 67 on the first day of the Tusker Kenya Open on the Challenge Tour saw Englishman Andrew Marshall take the first steps towards getting back to where he feels he belongs – the European Tour.
Along with his compatriots Gary Boyd and Andrew Butterfield and Switzerland’s Martin Rominger, Marshall trails leader Soren Juul of Denmark by one shot after a blistering day’s play at Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi, Kenya.
Marshall – who graduated to the European Tour in 2001 after finishing fourth in the Challenge Tour Rankings but lost his playing privileges two years ago – started the day badly with a bogey at the 10th, his first hole. But he got his round back on track by picking up a shot on his ninth hole, and a further three birdies after the turn saw him finish the day on four under par.
Marshall said: “I’ve got to be very pleased with a 68, particularly after the disastrous start I made. I over-clubbed with my approach shot which meant the ball went way over the back of the green, and I couldn’t get up and down from there. So a bogey 6 – when I should’ve been looking to make birdie – probably wasn’t the ideal start to my round!
"But I got going with a good birdie on the 18th, and after the turn I chipped in on the fifth and made some decent putts, particularly a 30-footer on the last. I’ve been working a lot on my putting alignment over the winter, so it was pleasing to see some of that work pay off.
“I’ve been playing and practising a fair bit in Asia since the start of the year, mainly because the weather’s a bit better over there! But if I manage to finish in the top ten here or even win, then I’d obviously have to think about concentrating more on the Challenge Tour and hopefully getting back onto The European Tour, which is where I feel I belong.
"I’ve made a decent start, but there’s a lot of golf to be played here before I can start thinking about my plans for the rest of the season.”
In contrast to Marshall, Boyd and Butterfield both began their rounds of 67 with birdies. But neither man could match the start of Rominger, who picked up four shots in his opening five holes before closing with 13 consecutive pars.
Juul made an equally explosive start to reach the turn at four under par, before adding a further two birdies on his back nine. The Dane would have finished the day with a two-stroke lead, were it not for a three putt for bogey at his penultimate hole.
He said: “For the past 18 months I’ve been working with James Petts, who coaches Søren Hansen, and it seems to be paying off. I made a great start in Colombia last month before falling away at the weekend, but that was due mainly to my putting. I was still striking the ball nicely even if my scores didn’t really show that, so I took a lot of confidence from that. If I keep learning from James hopefully I can keep improving, and if I manage to achieve half of what Søren’s done in the game I’ll be a very happy man!”
SCOREBOARD
66 S Juul (Den)
67 A Butterfield (Eng), G Boyd (Eng), M Rominger (Sui), A Marshall (Eng)
68 G Jackson (Eng) , J Sköld (Swe) , L Moolman (RSA) , P Gustafsson (Swe) , M Kramer (Ger)
69 C Suneson (Esp) , A Wagner (Arg) , M Bremner (RSA) , L De Jager (RSA) , R Coles (Eng) , G Molteni (Ita) , V Riu (Fra) , A McArthur (Sco) , A Murray (Irl) , L Bond (Wal)
70 J Kagiri (Ken) , G Hutcheon (Sco) , M Haastrup (Den) , T Feyrsinger (Aut) , L James (Eng) , O David (Fra) , P O'Keeffe (Irl) , J Grillon (Fra) , R McEvoy (Eng) , A Bernadet (Fra) , D Hewan (RSA) , M Wiegele (Aut) , A Shah (Ken)
71 J Axgren (Swe) , P Whiteford (Sco) , J Quesne (Fra) , S Robinson (Eng) , S Jeppesen (Swe) , T Ferreira (RSA) , F Calmels (Fra) , O Floren (Swe) , L Brovold (Nor) , A Grenier (Fra) , P Njiru (Ken) , G Houston (Wal) , M Bothma (RSA) , A Odoh (Ngr) , G Shaw (Nir) , C Brazillier (Fra) , T Charamba (Zim) , E Molinari (Ita) , J Larsen (Nor) , T Fisher Jnr (RSA) , I Pyman (Eng)
72 J Morrison (Eng) , D Wakhu (Ken) , L Kennedy (Eng) , A Haindl (RSA) , M Tullo (Chi) , D Indiza (Ken) , J Forestier (Fra) , A Cruse (RSA) , K Sullivan (Wal) , R Cairns (Zim) , M Curtis (Zim) , R Santos (Por) , R Gonzalez (Arg) , N Maestroni (Ita) , J Billot (Fra)
73 N Cheetham (Eng) , B Evans (Eng) , B Vaughan (RSA) , D Marmion (Eng) , C Gane (Eng) , S Saavedra (Arg) , M Reale (Ita) , N Fox (Irl) , J McLeary (Sco) , K Jorgensen (Den) , A Högberg (Swe) , N Meitinger (Ger) , J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , T Dykes (Wal) , A Gee (Eng) , B Taylor (Eng) , A Willey (Eng) , A Mellor (Eng)
74 P Golding (Eng) , K Timbe (Ken) , C Russo (Fra) , N Rokoine (Ken) , S Walker (Eng) , M Mills (Eng) , R Harris (Eng) , J Lorum (Ken) , C Aguilar (Esp) , J Baptista (Rwa) , K Brink (Swe) , S Thornton (Irl)
75 J Guerrier (Fra) , R Karlberg (Swe) , D Odhiambo (Ken) , J Heath (Eng) , B Miarka (Ger) , D Froreich (Ger) , J Kiondo (Ken) , T Cruz (Por) , S Andersen (am) (Ken) , G Snow (am) (Ken) ,
76 G Oyebanji (Ngr) , R Treis (Ger) , A Bruschi (Ita) , J Little (Eng) , B Alvarado (Chi) , G Murray (Sco) , S Bebb (Wal) , M McGeady (Irl) , G Coetzee (RSA)
77 R Ainley (Ken) , G Ayella (Uga) , T Whitehouse (Eng) , D Küpper (Ger) , J Wahlqvist (Swe) , A Hansen (Den) , A Kamya (Uga) , C Russell (Eng) , R Russell (Sco) , H Thethy (Ken) , R Steiner (Aut)
78 C Williams (RSA) , D Griffiths (Eng) , K Phiri (Zam) , A Shah (Ken) , J Clément (Sui) , N Vanhootegem (Bel) , J Ruth (Eng) , G Gresse (Bel) , L Saltman (Sco)
79 A Kimani (Ken) , R De Sousa (Sui) , R Steele (Eng) , G Giddie (Ken) (am)
80 L Westerberg (Swe) , R Charania (Ken) , B Mason (Eng) , F Praegant (Aut) , N Brennan (Zam) , M Pilkington (Wal) , K Abuto (Ken) , B Nyenza (Tza) , O Suhr (Den) , S Ngigi (Ken)
81 C Thethy (Ken) , J Okello (Ken)
82 M Griffiths (Wal)
DQ Y Saleh (Tza)