Lloyd Saltman one off the pace at windy Toulouse

By RODDY WILLIAMS
European Tour Press Staff
Lloyd Saltman continued his impressive current form to lie one shot off the lead in the ALLIANZ Golf Open du Grand Toulouse in France.
Saltman shot a three under par 68 in strong winds at Golf de Toulouse-Seilh to sit alongside Frenchman Olivier David and Welshman Stuart Manley, one behind first round leader Stuart Davis of England.
“I played really well,” said the Lothians man. “When we were warming up it was flat calm but then the wind really picked up as we stepped on the first tee. But I played well and kept it in play. The ball was oscillating on the greens which makes it tough and with the cross winds out there it can make club selection very difficult.”
Saltman is lying well down the Rankings but there is still plenty to play for on both the Challenge Tour and with the Qualifying School looming, and having finished in the top ten on his last three outings – one the Challenge Tour, Qualifying School First Stage and EuroPro Tour – he is confident about his game.
“Really I just want to be playing. I needed a top ten in Russia two weeks ago to get here this week and I need to repeat that to get into next week. I am in a good position after that round and if I can keep the momentum going I can put myself in amongst it.
"Coming from Scotland, I am enjoying the wind and with everyone pushing hard at this time of year I need to get myself in position over the weekend to try and get that top ten. I need to get that momentum going heading into the end of the season and the Q-School.”
Davis, inspired by Europe’s victory in The Ryder Cup, is the man to catch after an opening four under par 67.
Having been gripped by The Ryder Cup on TV and enthralled by the putts drained through all four days, he managed to hole his own fair share to set the clubhouse lead.
“The putter was hot - 26 putts is the best putting round I have had for a long time,” he said.
“The thing that came across to me about The Ryder Cup was how good they all were under pressure and how good their short game was. The pitches and putts they holed were just tremendous. It was great for European golf. It was tight but all credit to the lads who did us all proud.”
The ALLIANZ Golf Open du Grand Toulouse is the fourth last event of the Challenge Tour season at the end of which the top 20 will graduate to The European Tour.
FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 71
67 S Davis (Eng) ,
68 L Saltman (Sco) , S Manley (Wal) , O David (Fra) ,
69 J Grillon (Fra) , I Giner (Esp) , C Russo (Fra) , Å Nilsson (Swe) , C Del Moral (Esp) , A Wagner (Arg) , J McLeary (Sco) , C Lee (Sco) , T Feyrsinger (Aut) ,
70 T Fleetwood (Eng) , L Jensen (Den) , J Sjöholm (Swe) , W Besseling (Ned) , A McArthur (Sco) , R Dinwiddie (Eng) , A Snobeck (Fra) , B Wiesberger (Aut) , J Clément (Sui) , S Walker (Eng) ,
71 F Colombo (Ita) , F Fritsch (Ger) , J Billot (Fra) , J Legarrea (Esp) , C Moriarty (Irl) , G Houston (Wal) , D Perrier (Fra) , L Slattery (Eng) , A Velasco (Esp) , W Ormsby (Aus) , J Lopez Lazaro (am) (Fra) ,
72 C Ford (Eng) , R Russell (Sco) , A Hansen (Den) , J Ruth (Eng) , B Lecuona (Fra) , K Le Sager (Fra) , G Clark (Eng) , B Hebert (Fra) , B Grace (RSA) , A Hartø (Den) , M Baldwin (Eng) , R Kakko (Fin) ,
73 S Jamieson (Sco) , R Eyraud (Fra) , R Steiner (Aut) , S Gross Jr (Ger) , D Nouailhac (Fra) , C Gane (Eng) , A Ahokas (Fin) , B Nicolay (Fra) , M Carlsson (Swe) , A Tadini (Ita) , B Teilleria (Fra) , J Garcia (Esp) , M Vibe-Hastrup (Den) , L Gagli (Ita) , F Calmels (Fra) , J Foret (Fra) , J Xanthopoulos (Fra) , S Jeppesen (Swe) , R Wattel (am) (Fra) ,
74 G Murray (Sco) , J Zapata (Arg) , A Bernadet (Fra) , E Dubois (Fra) , N Porteboeuf (Fra) , V Riu (Fra) , M Tullo (Chi) , A Grenier (Fra) , L Kennedy (Eng) , T Olesen (Den) , M Thorp (Nor) , P Golding (Eng) , O Whiteley (Eng) , N Meitinger (Ger) , J Colomo (Esp) , A Gee (Eng) , M Quiros (Esp) ,
75 F Marty (Fra) , A Kaleka (Fra) , G Rosier (Fra) , M Hill (Fra) , S Tiley (Eng) , M Ford (Eng) , M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) , N Kearney (Irl) ,
76 A Marshall (Eng) , F De Vries (Ned) , L Richard (Bel) , T Fournier (Fra) , J Guerrier (Fra) , T Stewart (Aus) , K Eriksson (Swe) , L Bond (Wal) , P Erice Ibanez (Esp) , A Perrino (Ita) , S Robinson (Eng) , A Levy (am) (Fra) ,
77 B Chapellan (Fra) , C Gallois (Fra) , B Evans (Eng) , M Zions (Aus) , D Gaunt (Aus) , J Makitalo (Fin) ,
78 L Claverie (Esp) , F Praegant (Aut) , C Brazillier (Fra) , C Macaulay (Sco) ,
79 B Ritthammer (Ger) , E Chaudouet (Fra) , D Vanegas (Col) , L Salgado (Fra) , O Floren (Swe) ,
80 A Högberg (Swe) ,
81 P Valmary (Fra) ,
82 S Surry (Eng) ,