Irish Open winner Shane Lowry has

a 78 on European Open pro debut

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Shane Lowry's eagerly-awaited professional debut fell miles short of what the Irishman was hoping for in the European Open at the London Club today.
While Dane Anders Hansen went round the Kent venue in a seven-under-par 65, the 22-year-old who won the Irish Open as an amateur (with +5 of a handicap) 11 days ago slumped to a 78 to be joint 147th of the 156 players.
After signing his card Lowry emerged with the words: "It's over."
Although he said he was not nervous, playing partner Paul McGinley sensed he was, and it would have been understandable.
"He has propelled himself into a different stratosphere," said McGinley. "It was very difficult for him - it would be for anybody - but he is a class player and I didn't see any weaknesses."
Lowry, who before his shock 300-1 victory had intended to stay amateur until after September's Walker Cup, commented: "I felt a bit flat and I'm glad to have it over. It's the first day of many hopefully and there will be good days and bad days. I just got off to a bad start, four over after six, and didn't feel myself to be honest. I knew it was going to be tough, it's not an easy course by any means."
He now faces a huge task just to survive the halfway cut, but he has good company in that.
World No. 5 Henrik Stenson improved only two strokes on the 78 with which he started last week's BMW PGA Championship, and the horrendous last six months of 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell continued with an 80, which was not the worst score of the day. Reinier Saxton, the Dutchman who defends the British amateur title in Lancashire next month and is currently No 14 in the R&A WAGR, had an 84.
The tournament also saw the professional debut of Australian Scott Arnold, top of the world amateur rankings last week, and he managed only a 79.
Hansen's chip-in eagle at the 563yd eighth, his penultimate hole, gave him a one-stroke lead over England's Sam Little, Swede Peter Hanson, Indian Jyoti Randhawa and South African Thomas Aiken in the race for the £300,000 first prize - £100,000 less than Ross Fisher received last July in a sign of the times.
Sergio Garcia, meanwhile, recovered from an opening double bogey 6 to card a 69, but playing partner Henrik Stenson had two 7s in a four-over 76.
Garcia, runner-up to Ross Fisher last year, almost hooked into water with his opening drive, but although it avoided the lake the ball was in rough so thick that he moved his next shot only three feet and then had to hack it onto the fairway.
"I didn't hit that bad a shot, but I was punished really hard," he said. "I just tried to stay patient and on the front nine I rolled a couple of nice putts in."
Chris Doak who was winning the Northern Open for a second time in four years this week last year, finished the day the leading Scot on the scoreboard. He had a four-under-par 68. Marc Warren, who has had some good performances lately, fell off the ladder again, metaphorically speaking, with a 79.

+But for turning professional, Shane Lowry would be teeing it up in the Bidwells Scottish men's open amateur stroke-play championship at Murcar Links this week. He has also withdrawn, obviously, from the British amateur championship at Formby and West Lancs next month. The curious coincidence is that he was drawn to play with Wallace Booth, the defending champion at Murcar Links, in both events.

FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 72.
65 Anders Hansen (Den)
66 Peter Hanson (Swe), Thomas Aiken (Rsa), Sam Little, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)
67 Christian Cevaer (Fra), Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Marcel Siem (Ger), Peter Lawrie, Simon Khan, Alessandro Tadini (Ita), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra)
68 Anton Haig (Rsa), David Horsey, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Ben Curtis (USA), Graeme Storm, Anthony Wall, Robert Karlsson (Swe), Jamie Donaldson, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa), Chris Doak
69 Chris Wood, Steve Webster, Roope Kakko (Fin), Soren Hansen (Den), Sergio Garcia (Spa), Branden Grace (Rsa), Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Rory McIlroy, Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Tano Goya (Arg), Marcus Fraser (Aus)
70 Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Carlos Del Moral (Spa), Joakim Haeggman (Swe), Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Thomas Bjorn (Den), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Lee Westwood, Richard Bland, Graeme McDowell, Paul Waring, David Howell, Colin Montgomerie, Taco Remkes (Ned), Paul McGinley, Ross McGowan
71 Gary Orr, Oliver Wilson, Klas Eriksson (Swe), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Steven O'Hara, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Oliver Fisher, Johan Edfors (Swe), Simon Wakefield, John Daly (USA), Callum Macaulay, Lee Slattery, Niclas Fasth (Swe), Shaun Micheel (USA), Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Alastair Forsyth, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Seve Benson, Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Ignacio Garrido (Spa)
72 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Rafael Echenique (Arg), Danny Willett, Pelle Edberg (Swe), John Bickerton, Anthony Kang (USA), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Markus Brier (Aut), Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra), Oskar Henningsson (Swe), Miles Tunnicliff, Bradley Dredge, Nick Dougherty, Scott Drummond, Angel Cabrera (Arg), David Lynn, David Drysdale, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Richard Sterne (Rsa)
73 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Ross Fisher, Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Benn Barham, James Ablett, Peter Hedblom (Swe), Wil Besseling (Ned), Michael Hoey, Retief Goosen (Rsa), Peter Senior (Aus), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Paul Broadhurst, Gary Lockerbie, Stephen Gallacher, Paul Lawrie, David Dixon, Richard Green (Aus), Mark Foster
74 Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Damien McGrane, Richie Ramsay, Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Gareth Maybin, Darren Clarke, David Frost (Rsa), Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Robert Rock, Richard Finch, Michael Jonzon (Swe), Inder Van Weerelt (Ned), Peter O'Malley (Aus)
75 Zane Scotland, Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Andrew Coltart, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Brett Rumford (Aus), Gary Murphy, Stephen Dodd, Phillip Archer, Pablo Martin (Spa)
76 Jason McCreadie, Robert Dinwiddie, Alan McLean, Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Kenneth Ferrie, Andrew Oldcorn, Henrik Stenson (Swe), Barry Lane, Gregory Havret (Fra)
77 Alvaro Velasco (Spa), Phillip Price, Scott Strange (Aus), Mark Brown (Nzl)
78 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Shane Lowry
79 Marc Warren, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe), Scott Arnold (Hkg), David Gilford, Simon Dyson
80 Michael Campbell (Nzl)
84 Reinier Saxton (Ned) (am).