Molinari (63) leads Portugal Masters

from Rose and Alastair Forsyth

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Justin Rose, unsure what the future holds for him on the European Tour, took a big step towards easing his worries with a seven-under-par 65 in the Portugal Masters today.
Playing just his second event in Europe since last October, Rose is in a tie for second place - two shots behind Italian Francesco Molinari - after the opening round at the Oceanico Victoria Club in Vilamoura.
Molinari equalled the lowest round of his Tour career and will now be hoping there is no repeat of what happened after his last 63.
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It was at the Irish Open in May and he was disqualified the following day for signing for the wrong score in his second round.
In the battle for the Tour number one spot, meanwhile, Lee Westwood improved his hopes with a 66 - despite being stung by a wasp - as current leader Rory McIlroy finished with "only" a 69. He had been four under after five.
Two years ago Rose won the Order of Merit and at sixth in the world was Europe's leading light, while last September he won three out of four points on his Ryder Cup debut.
Now, with only one top-10 finish since he was runner-up to McIlroy in Dubai in February, he is 58th on the money list and, of more immediate concern to him, down to 62nd on the world rankings.
Falling outside the top 50 there means he could miss out on majors and world championships next season.
And that in turn will make it harder for him to remain a member of both the American and European circuits, especially if or when stricter rules are brought in on this side of the Atlantic.
SCOREBOARD
PORTUGAL MASTERS
Oceanico Victoria Clube de Golfe, Vilamoura, Algarve, Portuga
FIRST ROUND SCORES
(Par 72):
63 Francesco Molinari (Ita)
65 Justin Rose, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Alastair Forsyth
66 Pablo Martin (Spa), Mark Foster, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Simon Khan, Bradley Dredge, Lee Westwood
67 Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Anton Haig (Rsa), Oliver Wilson, Marcel Siem (Ger), Oliver Fisher
68 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Retief Goosen (Rsa), Colin Montgomerie, Phillip Price, Scott Drummond, Ben Curtis (USA), Peter Lawrie, Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Tiago Cruz (Por), Anthony Wall, Marc Warren, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Miles Tunnicliff, Gregory Havret (Fra)
69 Damien McGrane, Anders Hansen (Den), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Danny Willett, Peter Hedblom (Swe), John Bickerton, Johan Edfors (Swe), Rory McIlroy, Shiv Kapur (Ind), Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Gareth Maybin, Paul Waring, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Darren Clarke, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Paul Lawrie, Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Padraig Harrington, Ross McGowan
70 Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Simon Dyson, Antonio Rosado (Por), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Robert Rock, Alexander Noren (Swe), Shaun Micheel (USA), Shane Lowry, Oskar Henningsson (Swe), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Jose maria Joia (Por), Paul Broadhurst, Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Ricardo Santos (Por), Tano Goya (Arg), Paul McGinley
71 Mikko Ilonen (Fin), James Kingston (Rsa), Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Robert Dinwiddie, Simon Wakefield, Peter Hanson (Swe), Stephen Dodd, Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Steve Webster, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Michael Campbell (Nzl), Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), David Lynn, Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Taco Remkes (Ned), Jamie Donaldson, Phillip Archer, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)
72 Christian Nilsson (Swe), Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Rafael Echenique (Arg), Mark Brown (Nzl), Gary Murphy, Thomas Bjorn (Den), Richard Finch, Antonio Sobrinho (Por)
73 Gary Lockerbie, Brett Rumford (Aus), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Ross Fisher, Sam Little, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)
74 Christian Cevaer (Fra), Nuno Campino (Por), Graeme McDowell, Benn Barham, David Howell, Niclas Fasth (Swe), David Dixon, Lee Slattery
75 Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Emanuele Canonica (Ita), Thomas Levet (Fra), Barry Lane, Peter O'Malley (Aus)
76 Hennie Otto (Rsa), David Drysdale, Michael Jonzon (Swe)
77 Graeme Storm
79 Kenneth Ferrie
80 Tiago Rodrigues (Por)

+Colin Farquharson is on holiday at Vilamoura on the Algarve until Sunday, October 25 (inclusive)