Chris Wood equals record of 65 over Ryder Cup course

FROM THE A O L GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Chris Wood leads the Wales Open after a record-equalling opening round of 65 today on the same Celtic Manor course where the Ryder Cup contest takes place in October.
After the disappointment of a closing 77 when leading the BMW PGA at Wentworth two weeks ago the 6ft 5in golfer from Bristol, able to commute from home across the Severn Bridge, hit back with six birdies in a flawless display.

Yet Wood (pictured), who ended day one in front of Welshman Bradley Dredge and Australian Andrew Dodt, is not ready yet to declare the Ryder Cup his number one target, and said: "I would say it's completely in the back of my mind. It's not been a massive goal of mine, but I know my game is capable enough of playing at that level."

He added: "I'm just looking to win now. Obviously I've started to get myself in contention more often, so the more I do it the more likely it's going to happen. I've just got to stay patient - and play good golf."

Last week's Madrid Masters winner Luke Donald, at ninth in the world the highest-ranked player in the field, managed only a four over 75.

But leading local hope Rhys Davies, the player he pushed into second place in Spain, is very much in the hunt again following a 67.

Ross McGowan, currently fifth in the cup standings just behind Donald, was five under with four to play, but lost a ball on the driveable 15th and, after double-bogeying there, dropped further shots at the 16th and long 18th for a one-under 70.

On the same mark were Spanish Open champion Alvaro Quiros, thanks in a part to a hole-in-one on the 189-yard third, and cup captain Colin Montgomerie.

Those two were playing together and it was another opportunity for Montgomerie to admire the 27-year-old's immense power, an asset he believes could be really useful against the Americans in four months' time.

Simon Khan, back in action after his life-changing victory at Wentworth, sank a 35-foot putt for an eagle two on the 15th, but played the rest in two over for a 71.

SCOTSWATCH: Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay ended the first day in joint seventh place with a 68. Richie holed a 20ft birdie putt at the first and a slightly longer one to birdie the second and a third 25-footer for a birdie at the eighth, his 16th hole as he started at the 10th. That third birdie pulled him out of a mini-slump during which he bogeyed two of the previous three holes.
"I don't know what went wrong," he told Jock MacVicar of the Scottish Daily Express. "I snap-hooked two tee shots but after a banana and a cereal bar I felt better. Still, I'm going to the range to check my driving."
Ramsay is only three shots behind pacmaker Chris Wood.
Ryder Cup skipper Colin Montgomerie would be another happy Scot with a one-under-par 70, the same score as the bang-in-form Stephen Gallacher who birdied his last hole. Marc Warren, whose form has been erratic this season, had one of his steadier rounds, a 71, one ahead of Paul Lawrie.
Paul was three under par at the turn but dropped five shots in four holes from the 11th, including two double bogeys.
Peter Whiteford was going even better than Lawrie at four under par with seven to play but then he had a great fall with a quadruple boge3y 8 at the 12th. He finished on 72 - still a good enough start but it was shaping so much better.
Alastair Forsyth also subsided to a 71 after starting at the 10th. He dropped three shots in four holes from the fourth on his "inward" journey.
 Andrew McArthur had a 73 and David Drysdale a 74, the same score as Andrew Coltart. Steven O'Hara had a 76Gary Orr and Scott Drummond were down the field on the 78 mark and faced an uphill struggle to beat the cut.

FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD

Par 71
65 Chris Wood.
66 Andrew Dodt (Aus), Bradley Dredge.
67 Richard McEvoy, Rhys Davies, Edoardo Molinari (Ita)
68 Danny Lee (Nzl), Richie Ramsay, Robert Rock, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor), Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa), Simon Thornton
69 Damien McGrane, Thomas Bjorn (Den), Gareth Maybin, Marcel Siem (Ger)
70 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Chris Gane, Oliver Wilson, Colin Montgomerie, Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Clodomiro Carranza (Arg), Stephen Gallacher, Alexander Noren (Swe), Shane Lowry, Ross McGowan
71 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), John Parry, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Julien Guerrier (Fra), Julien Quesne (Fra), Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Simon Khan, Scott Hend (Aus), Marc Warren, Stephan Gross junior (Ger), Richard Finch, Jamie Donaldson, Tano Goya (Arg), Pablo Martin (Spa), Alastair Forsyth.
72 Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Patrik Sjoland (Swe), Thomas Aiken (Rsa), Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Peter Lawrie, Paul Lawrie, Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Paul McGinley, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Peter Whiteford.
73 Garry Houston, Steve Webster, Kyron Sullivan, George Coetzee (Rsa), Robert Coles, Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Lee Slattery, Andrew McArthur, Mark F Haastrup (Den), Benjamin Hebert (Fra), Sam Little, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa)
74 Anthony Wall, Richard Bland, Henrik Nystrom (Swe), David Drysdale, Stuart Manley, Mark Brown (Nzl), Andrew Coltart.
75 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Anders Hansen (Den), Liam Bond, Peter Baker, Danny Willett, Paul Broadhurst, Gary Lockerbie, Sam Hutsby, David Dixon, Michael Jonzon (Swe), Luke Donald, Gregory Havret (Fra)
76 Gary Clark, Ross Fisher, Michael Campbell (Nzl), David Howell, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Michael Watson (USA), Steven O'Hara.
77 Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Sion E Bebb, Phillip Archer, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), James Morrison
78 Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe), Gary Orr, Johan Edfors (Swe), Scott Drummond.
79 Andrew Tampion (Aus), Carl Suneson (Spa), Andrew Butterfield, Stephen Dodd, Scott Strange (Aus), Carlos Rodiles (Spa), Kenneth Ferrie
89 Jason Powell
RTD: Richard Green