ROCK OF AGES (WITHOUT A WIN) SHARES ANDALUCIA LEAD

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Robert Rock is closing in on 200 European Tour events without a win, but maybe a change of caddie is about to bring a change of luck for the Englishman 
In his first round with Andy Forsyth on the bag, Rock started the Open de Andalucia de Golf by Turkish Airlines with a five under par 65 in Malaga and shares the lead with fellow Englishman Jamie Elson and Swedes Johan Edfors, Oscar Floren and Rikard Karlberg.
The 33 year old said: "I've been playing good golf but not getting on any run of birdies or building any momentum."
That was the way it seemed to be again when he stood level par with eight holes to play, but then came five birdies for a front nine of 29.
Rock has had three runners-up finishes in his career and even walked away with the winning cheque at the 2009 3 Irish Open because it was amateur Shane Lowry who beat him in a play-off.
Elson was on the same winning Walker Cup team as Graeme McDowell and Luke Donald, but ten years on does not have a full European Tour card and needed a top-ten finish in Sicily to qualify for this week's event.
After turning 30 on Wednesday Elson, whose father Pip was The Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year in 1973, came joint fifth on Monday and on the back of that went to the turn in 30 before adding another birdie at the long 12th.
"My fairways hit stats last year were abysmal and that's why I lost my card, but I went over to the States over Christmas and made some really ground-breaking changes, so I'm delighted," Elson said.
"The first time I had a card was 2004 and perhaps it came a bit early for me. I didn't really know what I was doing."
Edfors is still waiting to add to his three wins during the 2006 season, but four birdies in the last seven holes brought him into the picture.
And afterwards the former Scottish Open champion admitted it was a late decision to play."It was a good, solid day - I only missed one green," he said.
"Last year I didn't play well here and was planning to take this week off. Then I decided to come, and it was a good decision. The course is in great shape, and the weather is lovely."
Karlberg, meanwhile, is playing on an invitation despite having earned over €240,000 for third place in the Barclays Singapore Open last November.
The 24 year old's effort did not count towards The Race to Dubai because he was a member of The Challenge Tour and failed to play in the required seven events there.
"Today I started playing well, I felt comfortable, but the putts refused to drop on the front nine," he said. "My caddie told me to be patient, and since that moment I started making putts. I got five birdies on the back nine.
"Last year I finished third in Singapore. I earned quite a lot of money, and I tried to gain a European Tour card. But then I neglected the Challenge Tour. At the end I didn't make it to The European Tour and lost my Challenge Tour card as I didn't play enough events.
"Miguel Ángel heard about it and said it was a shame, so he invited me to play at his tournament in Málaga. My target this week is a top ten finish which will allow me to play next week in Morocco. I must try to keep ploughing away week after week. I will also play some Asian Tour events in Malaysia, China and Korea."
SCOTSWATCH
Paul Lawrie made an excellent start with a four-under-par 66 to be joint sixth, one shot off the pace.
Lawrie had unblemished halves of 34 and 32 - nine straight pars on the first nine holes (which were the second nine for him, having started at the 10th_ and birdies at the short 11th, long 12th, short 13thj and par-4 14th after the turn.
Only two other Scots got under the par of 70 - Stephen Gallacher, out in 33 and back in 36, and Scott Jamieson who had a cracking score of 31 for the first nine holes but let it go a bit on the way home with 38 shots.
Colin Montgomerie, fit again after a dose of flu last week, hit 70 dead on with matching halves of 35.
Lloyd Saltman and Steven O'Hara had disappointing three-over 73s, both coming home in 38.
George Murray, also on 73, was an uninspired 37 out, 36 back.
Peter Whiteford, after finishing joint fifth in Sicily on Sunday, came down to earth with a bump. The Kirkcaldy man returned a four-over 74 and, starting the second round in joint 124th position, will do very well to beat the cut.

FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 70 (34-36). Yardage: 6817.
65 Robert Rock (England), Johan Edfors (Sweden), Jamie Elson (England), Rikard Karlberg (Sweden), Oscar Floren (Sweden).
66 Paul Lawrie (Scotland) 34-32, Jeppe Huldahl (Denmark), Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Japan), Raul Quiros (Spain).
OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
69 Stephen Gallacher 33-36, Scott Jamieson 31-38 (T36).
70 Colin Montgomerie 35-35 (T60).
73 Lloyd Saltman 35-38, Steven O'Hara 35-38, George Murray 37-36 (T113).
74 Peter Whiteford 36-38 (T124).