Leading Open became nightmare.


but David Huish has no regrets

By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Published in today's Edinburgh Evening News
Thirty years after leading the Open at the halfway stage with Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus in hot pursuit, David Huish has revealed how the experience turned from a dream into a nightmare.
After qualifying for the 1975 event at Carnoustie, the North Berwick club professional shot rounds of 67 and 69 to lead from Watson, Peter Oosterhuis and Bernard Gallacher by two strokes, with Nicklaus and other big names even further behind.
"I'd had a good year, winning the Scottish PGA Championship, but what happened in the Open was a whole new ball game to me," admitted Huish, below, who is about to bring down the curtain on his 42-year spell at the East Lothian club.
"I finished my second round in the middle of afternoon and, after checking my scorecard, I was taken into the Press Tent, where I was asked go through all the shots I'd played, etc. I did a whole host of TV and radio interviews after that and didn't have either the experience or will to say I had to leave.
"Some players these days would probably have given the press two minutes and then have been off. I was staying at The Scores Hotel in St Andrews and didn't get back there until about 9pm. As I got out of my car, I noticed a group of photographers hanging about and, on discovering they were waiting for me, I thought 'Oh, No!
"I was sprayed with champagne but not a single drop touched my lips. I sent it to the kitchen and had a Coca-Cola. You probably won't be surprised to hear that I didn't exactly have the best sleep ever that night and, after getting up early the next morning, I found myself with time on my hands as I wasn't teeing off until the afternoon and I decided I'd go up into the town, buy a paper and have a wander to help me relax.
"But the photographers were there waiting for me again, outside the hotel and, to be honest, I found all the attention a bit embarrassing. It was a nightmare and, after eventually getting my newspaper, I went back to my hotel room and locked myself in there for a bit."
Paired with South African Bobby Cole in the third round, Huish quickly became aware that he was carrying the weight of the Scottish nation on his shoulders when he set out trying to protect his lead.
"I was pretty nervous and, after putting my second shot in the burn at the third and then missing the green at the fifth, I remember hearing this very deep Scottish voice saying: 'Come on big man, we've not come all this way to watch this rubbish."
"I thought 'There we go, a Scottish supporter who'll support you ever more'. I felt so embarrassed as I believed I was letting everyone down. You stop playing for yourself in a situation like that. You are playing for your country and start going for pins you shouldn't go for – a total lack of experience after never being in that position before."
In the end, Huish finished 13 shots behind play-off winner Tom Watson (he beat Jack Newton in the Sunday 18-hole play-off) but he insisted:
"I got a wealth of experience out of it and people still come into the shop and talk about it."
While perfectly happy to have been a club pro for more than 40 years, Huish also enjoyed a spell when he was able to play a fair amount of tournament golf, tasting success on both the Tartan Tour and, more recently, the European Seniors Tour, winning five titles on the latter, the sweetest perhaps coming in the 1998 Scottish Seniors Open at Dalmahoy.
"The PGA Cup, the club pros' equivalent of the Ryder Cup, was a big thing for me and I was lucky to play in that eight times," said Huish. "I also played in the World Cup with David Ingram from Dalmahoy at Las Brisas in Spain. That was the first time I'd played abroad and I couldn't believe how difficult the course was.
"Unfortunately for us, Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus were representing the United States and Miller was out in 29 and Nicklaus out in 34 – a different world."

Martin Laird still off form - 77 in

Verizon Heritage opening round

Martin Laird's poor form on the US PGA Tour this season continued today with a mediocre six-over-par round of 77 in the Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
Germany's Alex Cejka grabbed the first round lead with a bogey-free seven-under-par opening round of 64 on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.
Cejka leads the tournament by one stroke from American Lee Janzen, who fired a 65.
South Africa's Trevor Immelman, who finished 20th in last week's Masters, closed with a bogey 5 on the ninth hole, but shot a five under 66 to finish the day in third.
Americans Ted Purdy and Brian Gay finished a further shot behind with 67s with Jose Marie Olazabal part of an 11-man group on three under that also includes Ernie Els of South Africa, Australian trio Rod Pampling, Aron Price and Stephen Leaney and Americans Bob Estes, Bill Haas, Todd Hamilton, Cliff Kresge, Jeff Maggert and Tim Petrovic.
England's Greg Owen shot a 69 alongside, amongst others, defending champion Boo Weekley, who is chasing a hat-trick of successive wins in the tournament.
Camilo Villegas of Colombia, American Zach Johnson, Rory Sabbatini of South Africa and Nathan Green of Australia were among those who carded 70s, while Daniel Chopra of Sweden, England's Brian Davis and India's Jeev Milkha Singh were in a big group that shot level-par 71s.
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy finished with a 72 while English duo Luke Donald and Paul Casey each shot 73s.
McIlroy, the only Irishman in the field, Rory bogeyed his first after starting on the 10th but rectified the error immediately with a 3 on the par-4 11th.
A bogey on the 18th and another on the second preceded two back-to-back birdies from the fourth, before a 5 on the par-4 eighth pushed McIlroy over par.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 71
64 Alex Cejka (Ger)
65 Lee Janzen
66 Trevor Immelman (Rsa)
67 Brian Gay, Ted Purdy
68 Aron Price (Aus), Rodney Pampling (Aus), Todd Hamilton, Stephen Leaney (Aus), Cliff Kresge, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Bob Estes, Jeff Maggert, Bill Haas, Tim Petrovic, Ernie Els (Rsa)
69 Dean Wilson, Boo Weekley, Ken Duke, Scott Piercy, Greg Owen (Eng), Briny Baird, Charles Howell III
70 Charley Hoffman, Robert Garrigus, Woody Austin, John Mallinger, Tommy Armour III, Nathan Green (Aus), Justin Leonard, Matt Weibring, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Jason Dufner, Zach Johnson, Davis Love III, Tom Lehman, Kevin Na, Camilo Villegas (Col), Brandt Snedeker, Jonathan Byrd
71 Kirk Triplett, Vaughn Taylor, Webb Simpson, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl), Daniel Chopra (Swe), Steve Marino, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Matt Kuchar, Steve Elkington (Aus), Kevin Streelman, Dustin Johnson, Charlie Wi (Kor), George McNeill, Glen Day, D.J. Trahan, Tommy Gainey
72 Spencer Levin, Greg Kraft, Nick O'Hern (Aus), Heath Slocum, Jeff Klauk, Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Brett Quigley, Marc Leishman (Aus), Shaun Micheel, Brendon De Jonge, Brian Davis (Eng), Jerry Kelly, Chris DiMarco, Stewart Cink, Bob Tway, Mark Wilson, Peter Lonard (Aus), Michael Allen, Corey Pavin, Scott Verplank, Tim Clark (Rsa)
73 Michael Letzig, Bill Lunde, Jeff Quinney, Chris Couch, James Driscoll, Will MacKenzie, Ben Crane, Joe Durant, Ryan Palmer, Bo Van Pelt, Nicholas Thompson, Dudley Hart, Charles Warren, Chris Stroud, Tim Herron, Eric Axley, Steve Lowery, Brian Bateman, Paul Casey (Eng), Jarrod Lyle (Aus), Mathew Goggin (Aus), Robert Allenby (Aus), Luke Donald (Eng), Carl Pettersson (Swe)
74 Brad Adamonis, Kent Jones, Mark Anderson, John Senden (Aus), Colt Knost, Lucas Glover, James Nitties (Aus), Chez Reavie, Billy Andrade, Jim Furyk, Jose Coceres (Arg)
75 Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Mark Brooks, Matt Bettencourt
76 Michael Bradley, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Cameron Beckman, Greg Chalmers (Aus), Troy Matteson
77 Brad Faxon, Steve Flesch, Billy Mayfair, Martin Laird (Sco), Fred Funk
78 Marc Turnesa, Tom Pernice Jnr., Jason Bohn
79 Cory Schneider
80 John Rollins, Parker McLachlin

David Law finishes fourth in Peter

McEvoy Trophy stroke-play event

Scottish boys champion David Law (Hazlehead), the overnight leader, finished joint fourth in the Peter McEvoy Trophy boys' tournament at Copt Heath Golf Club, Solihull in the English West Midlands.
Normally a 72-hole event, bad weather reduced the opening day to 27 holes instead of 36 and the results were declared over 63 holes, i.e. three rounds of 18 + the second round abbreviated to nine holes.
Law played well enough to return a one-under-par tally of 247 (67-35-72-73) but was overhauled over the last two rounds. While David's aggregate for rounds three and four added up to three-over-par 145, the boys who finished ahead of him scored under 140 for the final 36 holes. That was the difference.
Victory went to Max Smith (Newbury Racecourse) with a five-under-par total of 243, made up of 69-35-69-70.
He won by one shot from Billy Downing (Truro) whose final two rounds of 69 and 67 added up to the best second-day total. In all he scored 71-37-69-67.
Chris from Kincardine O'Neil, a member at Inchmarlo Golf Resort, Banchory, finished 13th on 251 with scores of 71-38-71-71
FINAL TOTALS
Par 248 (71-35-71-71)
1st Smith Max Newbury Racecourse 69 35 69 70 243
2nd Downing Billy Truro 71 37 69 67 244
3rd White Joshua Chipstead 74 33 67 71 245
4th Dunne Paul Greystones, Ireland 70 34 70 73 247
4th Law David Hazlehead 67 35 72 73 247
6th Bell Jonathan Royal Blackheath 73 37 67 71 248
7th Pickard Richard Mere 69 36 75 69 249
7th Campbell Scott Hallowes 74 31 72 72 249
7th Whitson Reeve Mourne 73 35 67 74 249
10th Lewis Tom Welwyn Garden City 68 35 77 70 250
10th Nugent Christopher Fulford Heath 73 35 71 71 250
10th Berry Tom Wentworth 71 34 70 75 250
13th Robb Chris Inchmarlo 71 38 71 71 251
13th Lloyd Chris Kendelshire 75 35 68 73 251
15th Ibbertson Tom Coventry Hearsall 72 35 74 71 252
15th Stow Ben Rushmore 69 38 73 72 252
15th Hatton Tyrell Harleyford 73 36 70 73 252
15th Dobson Hugo Fynn Valley 74 35 69 74 252
19th Boys Tom Royal Liverpool 75 35 70 73 253
20th Robertshawe Samuel Army 72 36 73 73 254
20th Carson Adam Long Ashton 71 36 73 74 254
20th McGee Garth Malone 68 37 74 75 254
23rd Bolton Sandy Magnolia Park 73 38 72 72 255
23rd Newton Mitchell Notts 75 34 74 72 255
23rd Harston Rhodri Felixstowe Ferry 75 32 75 73 255
23rd Stirling Anthony Formby 74 35 72 74 255
23rd Carr Oliver Heswall 73 36 71 75 255
28th Chapman Matthew Wentworth 74 35 76 71 256
29th Jones Steven Canons Brook 74 37 75 71 257
29th Connor Sam Sandiway 74 37 72 74 257
29th Herbert Ben Clacton on Sea 71 36 76 74 257
29th Casey Harry Enfield 75 34 72 76 257
33rd Holmes Kit Hunstanton 73 36 75 74 258
33rd Fitzgerald Scott Southport + Ainsdale 75 34 73 76 258
33rd Hall Alastair Bungay + Waveney 74 35 71 78 258
33rd Godwin Jordan The London 73 35 72 78 258
37th Evans Josh Mere 75 36 73 76 260
38th Galbraith Adam Haywards Heath 75 36 73 77 261
39th Brockington James Henley 73 37 75 77 262
39th Gibson Scott Southerness 72 38 72 80 262
41st Sheridan-Mills Freddie Walsall 74 36 80 74 264
41st Turner Matthew Emirates 71 40 77 76 264
41st Dickson Ross Crews Hill 72 36 79 77 264
41st Webber James Three Rivers 75 35 76 78 264
45th Shields Paul Kirkhill 74 37 80 74 265

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)

Paul Lawrie with his protegee David Law after the Hazlehead teenager's victory in the Scottish boys championship final at Balgownie (Cal Carson Golf Agency image).

Busy Paul to play six tournaments

in row in bid to boost ranking

By JOCK MacVICAR
From today's Scottish Daily Express
Paul Lawrie is embarking on a six-tournament stretch in a bid to regain a position in the world rankings more befitting his talent and work ethic.
Although he finished tied seventh in the Estoril Open two weeks ago, the 1999 Open champion is still 165th in the rankings, 31 spots behind leading Scot Alastair Forsyth and 19 behind Colin Montgomerie.
"I don't normally play as many events in a row," said Lawrie. "I did five last season but I don't think I've ever done six."
Lawrie has decided to make his big push in the build-up to the Barclays Scottish Open coming up at Loch Lomond, where he was ninth last year, and the Open at Turnberry where he was 24th the last time it was played there in 1994.
"Originally, I'd thought about going to China this week and Korea next week," he said. "But after I played so well at Estoril and putted so poorly I decided to stay at home these two weeks and work on my putting.
"If I had putted decently in Portugal I reckon the way I played I could have won by five or six shots. There's enough good stuff in there to be winning again."
His caddie, Andy Forsyth, agrees. "In the last five years with Paul, I haven't seen him hit the ball as well as he did at Estoril," he said.
Lawrie's Estoril Open statistics strongly support the player's belief. He was fourth (88.5%) in driving accuracy; first (80.6%) in hitting greens in regulation, and of the 71 players who made the cut, 60th (31.7) in putts per round. In contrast, the tournament winner, Michael Hoey, was 59th (67.3%) in driving, 56th (59.7%) in greens in regulation and third (27) in putts per round.
Lawrie said: "Although I'm playing si sevents in a row, unlike going to China and Korea, there isn't too much gravelling involved. All the events are in Europe - the Spanish, Italian and Irish Opens, BMW PGA at Wentworth, European Open at the London Club and the Wales Open at Celtic Manor."
Instead of embarking on the long haul, Lawrie is spending a huge amount of time practising on the special putting green he has had installed at his Aberdeen home.
"I've been hours and hours on it, to the extent that my back is hurting a little bit," he said.
"It's a confidence thing, not technical. I'm just working on seeing the ball going into the hole. I feel I just need one good putting round and I'll be away."
Although Paul is working harder than ever on his game as he targets qualifying among the top 60 for the new $10million Dubai World Championship in November, Lawrie remains totally committed to his Aberdeen-based Golf Foundation.
At the moment, he has five players in the group, including new Scottish boys' champion David Law and Michele Thomson who won her first even as a professional in Florida last week. More are in the pipeline.
"When we launched the Foundation in 2001 the idea was not so much to find winners but to introduce as many youngsters to ghe game as we could," he explained.
"But it's great to see some of them doing so well."
No one on the European Tour puts more back into the game than Lawrie. His development work with the Foundation and at national level is contributing a huge amount for the future of Scottish golf.
"I enjoy the mentoring," he added. I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it. I absolutely love it, and seeing David Law win at Royal Aberdeen last week was fantastic."
The R&A are so impressed by the former Open champion's work that they haved donated £25,000 to his Foundation and junior programmes this year.
While the R&A's input is massive, the Foundation, managed by Murray Carnie, has 11 other sponsors.
His coaches, Neil Marr and Adam Hunter, also give their time freely, and Paul's wife, Marian, is a huge support in everything he does.
Now a football section has been launched with former Aberdeen player Jaciie Lawsrence in chargbe.
Lawrie's peers also appreciate the work he is doing with juniors. Some of the top players on the European tour, including Darren Clarke and Jeev Milkha Singh, will play in a fund-raising pro-am at The Carrick on the Monday of Scottish Open week at Loch Lomond.

Colin Montgomerie has a 73

Markus Brier sets pace with

a 67 in Volvo China Open

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Austrian Markus Brier fired a five under par round of 67 to take the lead at the Volvo China Open at Beijing CBD International Golf Club today.
The 40-year-old – who won this event in Shanghai in 2007 – made an excellent start with birdies at his opening two holes, the tenth and 11th, and overcame a bogey 4 at the short 12th with another birdie at the 13th before picking up a shot at the 15th to swiftly move to three under.
The Austrian then charged to the top of the leaderboard with three consecutive birdies at the second, third and fourth only to three putt the ninth and end his opening effort with a one shot lead over Nick Dougherty and David McKenzie.
“I hit some great iron shots and the putter was really hot as well which is a great combination,” said Brier. “I made all the crucial par saves as well and that really kept the round alive.
"I had my good breaks and at the end I missed a few fairways and made it a little bit tough on myself but I always felt comfortable. It was a really nice day, there was no wind, it was nice and warm and I made a really nice start for the first few holes, hitting a lot of fairways and making birdie chances."
England’s Dougherty, meanwhile, began his round in solid enough fashion with eight consecutive pars before catching fire around the turn.
The 26 year old, looking to recapture the form that brought him a seventh place finish at the 2007 US Open Championship, birdied the 18th, first and second before a two at the par three sixth saw him well in contention after posting a bogey free 68.
He said: “It was a great start. I played superbly and it has been coming for a while because I have been playing well recently.
“I think it has just been a case of finding my way out of where I have been over the last year – it has taken a bit longer than I thought and think that confidence is one of the last things to come back. But it was great – I could have easily birdied every hole on the back nine.
“Four under is a great score, no bogeys is great but it could have easily been eight or nine under which is a great thought to have because this golf course is superb. I am delighted, I really enjoyed it out there and I am just going to try and keep that going this week."
Australian McKenzie's challenge, meanwhile, was sparked by an eagle two at the 377 yard, par four fifth.
The Australian had played his first 13 holes in level par following two birdies and two bogeys but picked up further strokes at the sixth and eighth following his eagle to move alongside Dougherty.
“The funny thing is after three putting the previous hole, I was thinking as I walked along wouldn’t it be nice to hole a shot here and then make a couple of birdies coming in and shoot maybe three under, so four under was much better,” he said of his efforts at the fifth.
“It was 102 yards, flew straight in the cup. Took a little bit of the side off it but pretty much straight in. I saw it all the way down. It hit the flag and went straight in, so it was perfect.”
Dougherty’s compatriot Simon Dyson sits fourth after a three under 69, with Korea’s Choi Ho-sung, Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee and Australia’s Matthew Millar two under.
Only three Scots have made the long trip to Beijing. Colin Montgomerie had a 73, Andrew Coltart a 74 and Scott Drummond a 75.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
67 Markus Brier (Aut)
68 David McKenzie (Aus), Nick Dougherty
69 Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Simon Dyson
70 Ho-sung Choi (Kor), Matthew Millar (Aus), Scott Strange (Aus), Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)
71 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Ki joon Song (Aus), Craig Scott (Aus), Richard Finch, Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa), Mark Brown (USA), Peter O'Malley (Aus)
72 Carlos Del Moral (Spa), Chris Wood, Damien McGrane, Won-Kyoung Heo (Kor), Paul Waring, Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Branden Grace (Rsa), Rafael Echenique (Arg), Klas Eriksson (Swe), Peter Lawrie, Graeme Storm, Wil Besseling (Ned), David Dixon, Jian Hou (Chn), Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Brad Kennedy (Aus)
73 Mikael Lundberg (Swe), James Kingston (Rsa), Kyong-jun Moon (Kor), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Joel Sjoholm (Swe), Wei-Huang Wu (Tpe), Michael Long (Nzl), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Aaron Townsend (Aus), Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Colin Montgomerie, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn), Alexandre Rocha (Bra), Dong Su (Chn)
74 Chris Gaunt (Aus), Shin-Ching Chan (Tpe), Robert Dinwiddie, Jean Van de Velde (Fra), Johan Edfors (Swe), Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor), Stephen Dodd, A-Shun Wu (Chn), Wade Ormsby (Aus), Miles Tunnicliff, Marcus Fraser (Aus), David Gleeson (Aus), Andrew Coltart, Guo-Jie Liu (Tpe), Brett Rumford (Aus), Xiao Xuan Xing (Chn), Inder Van Weerelt (Ned), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Zhi-peng Fan (Chn), Paul McGinley, Barry Lane
75 Ake Nilsson (Rsa), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Stuart Bouvier (Aus), Anthony Snobeck (Fra), Tae hee Lee (Kor), Oskar Henningsson (Swe), Jae Hoon Jung (Kor), Pablo Martin (Spa), Qin Xu (Chn), Ashley Hall (Aus), Anton Haig (Rsa), Jason King (Aus), Wi-joong Kim (Kor), Scott Drummond, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Ji-Ho Jung (Kor), Anthony Brown (Aus), Chao Li (Chn)
76 An-lin Liu (Chn), Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Anthony Summers (Aus), Jun Zhou (Chn), Peter Hedblom (Swe), Kyung-nam Kang (Kor), David Frost (Rsa), Simon Wakefield, Alessandro Tadini (Ita), Kurt Barnes (Aus), Peter Wilson (Aus), Seung Ho Lee (Kor), Richard Bland, Gareth Maybin, Tim Wood (Aus), Adam Crawford (Aus), Zhi-Jin Xiao (Tpe), Gary Murphy, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Hao Yuan (Chn), Wook-Soon Kang (Kor)
77 Scott Laycock (Aus), Zane Scotland, Qing Liu (Chn), Ryan Haller (Aus), Kyung-sool Kang (Kor), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Myung-ho Kwon (Kor), Sung-hoon Kang (Kor)
78 Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Jae-woong Eom (Kor), Xin Liu (Chn), Michael Moore (Aus), Seve Benson, Gui Ming Liao (Chn), Wen-yi Huang (Chn), Kang-Chun Wu (Chn)
79 Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Ming-chuan Chen (Tpe), Tae-hyun Jun (Kor), Cui-Lin Gu (Chn), Wen-xu Lu (Chn), Lei Shang (Tpe)
80 Wei-Tze Yeh (Tai), Tristan Lambert (Aus), Xin-jun Zhang (Chn), Michael Curtain (Aus), Xiao-ma Chen (Chn), Yu-xiang Liu (Chn)
81 Justin Evans, Ming Jie Huang (Chn), Gareth Paddison (Nzl), Shu Tao Gu (Chn), Ji-man Kang (Kor)
82 Terry Price (Aus), Wei Huo (Chn), An-Da Liu (Chn)
83 Yong-liang Shao (Chn), Shao-cai He (Chn), Taco Remkes (Ned)
85 Tian Yuan (Chn), Shu-xin Chen (Chn), Wei-hai Kong (Chn)