Maybin's record relegates

Ramsay to joint 2nd

in BMW Italian Open

Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay got his good round in early at the BMW Italian Open championship which began in Turin today.
Despite bogeying the 17th and 18th, Ramsay (pictured right) set the clubhouse target of 67 which was eventually relegated by a course record effort of 64 - seven-under-par by the 28-year-old former US college circuit player from Belfast, Gareth Maybin.
Maybin, you may recall, came so close to winning on only his seventh European Tour appearance back in December.
Alongside Ramsay in second place are the French pair, Raphael Jacquelin and Christian Cevaer, and England's Marcus Higley, while American John Daly would have been joint second as well but for two closing bogeys.
After Ramsay had posted his 67, Maybin was still two behind when he turned in 34.
But he then followed birdies on the 10th and 12th with a 116-yard wedge straight into the hole for an eagle 2 at the next and another birdie came on the short 15th.
Even when the Ulsterman bogeyed two holes later he came straight back, hitting a five-iron to six feet on the demanding 507-yard par 4 last. Maybin had only 23 putts in all.
Maybin played the Royal Park lay-out on the Challenge Tour last season, but that was hardly a confidence-booster for him on his return. He missed the cut then.
Daly was annoyed at his bogey-bogey finish, but after finishing last week's Spanish Open with a 69, the 43-year-old, banned by the US Tour for six months in November after being thrown in jail to sober up, drew positives from starting his second event back with the same score.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 71
64 Gareth Maybin
67 Christian Cevaer (Fra), Richie Ramsay, Marcus Higley, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra)
68 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Thomas Aiken (Rsa), Garry Houston, Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa), Ake Nilsson (Rsa), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Brett Rumford (Aus), Anthony Wall, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Matteo Delpodio (Ita)
69 John Mellor, Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Branden Grace (Rsa), Marc Cayeux (Zim), John Daly (USA), Alexandre Rocha (Bra), Gary Lockerbie, Gregory Molteni (Ita), David Drysdale, Inder Van Weerelt (Ned), Gregory Havret (Fra)
70 Andrew Tampion (Aus), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice), Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha), Simon Khan, Gary Murphy, Gareth Paddison (Nzl), Stephen Dodd, Julien Clement (Swi), Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Wade Ormsby (Aus), Michael Curtain (Aus), Mark Foster, Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Bradley Dredge
71 Jonathan Caldwell, Chris Gane, Roope Kakko (Fin), Hennie Otto (Rsa), Michael McGeady, Alan McLean, Metteo Manassero (Ita), David Lynn, Carlos Rodiles (Spa), Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Scott Barr (Aus), Thomas Bjorn (Den), Phillip Archer
72 Simon Robinson, Joakim Haeggman (Swe), Marco Soffietti (Ita), Patrik Sjoland (Swe), Gary Orr, Niccolo Quintarelli (Ita), Robert Dinwiddie, Steven O'Hara, Wil Besseling (Ned), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Robert Rock, Lee Slattery, John E Morgan, Alessandro Tadini (Ita), Miles Tunnicliff, Richard Bland, Colin Montgomerie, Gary Clark, Mark Haastrup (Den), Stephen Gallacher, Taco Remkes (Ned), Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe), Barry Lane
73 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Anders Hansen (Den), Benn Barham, Sion Bebb, Klas Eriksson (Swe), Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (Spa), Simon Wakefield, Oliver Fisher, Anthony Kang (USA), Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Matthew Millar (Aus), Alastair Forsyth, Pablo Martin (Spa), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Christian Nilsson (Swe), Jan Are Larsen (Nor), Richard McEvoy, Stuart Manley, Seve Benson, Paul Broadhurst, Sam Walker, Thomas Levet (Fra)
74 Stuart Davis, Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Soren Hansen (Den), Mathias Gronberg (Swe), Darren Clarke, Kane Webber (USA), Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Costantino Rocca (Ita), Marc Warren, Marco Bernardini (Ita), Alan Wagner (USA), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Emanuele Canonica (Ita), Peter O'Malley (Aus)
75 Leonardo Motta (Ita), Mattia Miloro (Ita), Andrew Coltart, Andrea Signor (Ita), Andrea Zanini (Ita), Kenneth Ferrie, Peter Hedblom (Swe), Anthony Snobeck (Fra), Alexander Noren (Swe), Antti Ahokas (Fin), Niclas Fasth (Swe)
76 Alvaro Velasco (Spa), Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Rafael Echenique (Arg), David Frost (Rsa), Callum Macaulay, Iain Pyman, Sven Struver (Ger), Andrea Zani (Ita), Paul Lawrie, Nino Bertasio (Ita), Chris Doak
77 Martin Wiegele (Aut), Federico Colombo (Ita), Tino Schuster (Ger), Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Markus Brier (Aut), Nunzio Lombardi (Ita), Sam Little
78 Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor), Peter Baker, Santiago Luna (Spa), Michele Reale (Ita)
79 Raphael De Sousa (Swi), Peter Whiteford, Emmanuele Lattanzi (Ita)