SCOTT HENRY IN THE MIX IN WEATHER-HIT OPENING DAY AT WENTOWRTH

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

By SARAH GWYNN

Sponsor’s invite James Kingston made light of the cold, wet conditions at Wentworth Club, Surrey to take the first-round lead in the BMW PGA Championship with a sublime six under par 66.

That gave the South African a one stroke advantage over Finn Mikko Ilonen, with Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño and Scottish rookie Scott Henry, pictured below, on four under par. 

Austrian Martin Wiegele was also four under after 13 holes when play was suspended for the day, after earlier thunderstorms caused a 90min delay, and will complete his first round on Friday morning. 

Kingston finished with seven birdies and one bogey shortly before play was suspended at 15.42. 
 Playing under a sponsor’s invitation after losing his card last season, he said: “What a great feeling to be back here. I think I've made the most of the invitation today.” 

  "I never felt like I played poorly enough to lose my card and that's what makes it even more frustrating," said Kingston, whose last of two European Tour victories came in the Mercedes Benz Championship in 2009.

"I felt like I played half decent throughout the whole season but just never managed to put a score on the board. It does make it a little harder to accept.
"Getting an invite into this event, what a great feeling to be back here. I think I've made the most of it today."

Ilonen, who was runner-up in the Volvo China Open earlier this month, said:

 "All day I was thinking 'Can I get these waterproof trousers off?' and never managed it. We even had hail on the ninth tee. I said to a friend last night it was going to snow today and she laughed at me. It's British summer and we have proof of that."

 Ilonen  carded a 67 as he looked to build on a run of two second places in his last three events.
"It was pretty nippy when we started and stayed that way," said Ilonen, who finished runner-up in Morocco and China recently.

Ryder Cup heroes Martin Kaymer, Francesco Molinari and Lee Westwood are in hot pursuit on two under par, while World Number Two Rory McIlroy opened with a two over par 74 and Colin Montgomerie, who won a hat-trick of BMW PGA Championship titles in 1998, 1999 and 2000, signed for a 71.

 All but one of last year's victorious Ryder Cup team are in the 150-man field, but several of them fell victim to Wentworth's closing stretch.
England's Justin Rose - runner-up last year and beaten in a play-off in 2007 - finished bogey, double-bogey to drop from three under to level, while McIlroy had also been three under after 12 holes but bogeyed five of the last six to be home in 41 for a two over 74.
"Even when I was three under I thought things could have been better," said McIlroy, who missed good birdie chances on the first two holes and is still seeking his first win of the year after five victories worldwide in 2012.
"I hit a couple of loose tee shots on 13 and 17 and three-putted the 14th, but thought I got a bit unlucky on 18 when I hit my drive where I wanted but it ran through the fairway and into an unplayable lie in the bushes.”
McIlroy's playing partner Graeme McDowell also ran up a double-bogey 7 on the 18th in matching McIlroy's 74.
McDowell, who took 8 on the same hole in the opening round last year after a two-shot penalty for failing to replace his ball after it moved, hit his approach into the moat surrounding the raised green.
SCOTSWATCH: It was a good day for Scott Henry, two shots off the lead in joint third place on 68, and also for Marc Warren who finished late in the day with a 69 to be in the top 10.
Scott Drummond, former winner of the PGA title, had a 70 and Richie Ramsay also got under par with a 71 for a share of 23rd place with Montgomerie.
Greig Hutcheon and Peter Whiteford  would have been happy with their par 72s.
But Scott Jamieson had a 73, Craig Lee and Chris Doak 74s, and Ryder Cup man Paul Lawrie a disappointing 75.
Lawrie, who finished high up in this event 12 months ago, had a triple bogey 7 at the 13th and also shed shots at the first, third, 10th and 11th. High spots for the Aberdonian, who "drove it awful," were birdies at the 12th, 16th and 18th.
But Lawrie by no means bringing up the rear for the Scots. Stephen Gallacher toiled for a 76 while Scott Henderson, qualifying to play through the Scottish PGA, had a sad 82 to be last of the field of 150 at the end of the day. 

LEADING FIRST-DAY SCORES
Par 71
66 James Kingston (S Africa).
67 Mikko Ilonen (Finland).
68 Scott Henry (Scotland), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.
69 Matteo Manassero (Italy), George Coetzee (S Africa), Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Simon Khan (England), Marc Warren (Scotland).
70 Oliver Fisher (England), Shane Lowry (Ireland), |MartinKaymer (Germany), Niclas Fasth (Sweden), Johan Edfors (Sweden), Lee Westwood (England), Francesco Molinari (Italy), Paul Casey (England), Alvaro Quiros (Spain), Anders Hansen (Denmark), Scott Drummond (Scotland).

OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
71 Richie Ramsay, Colin Montgomerie, David Drysdale  (T23).
72 Greig Hutcheon, Peter Whiteford (T46).
73 Scott Jamieson (T63)
74 Craig Lee, Chris Doak (T84)
75 Paul Lawrie (T105)
76 Stephen Gallacher (T122)
82 Scott Henderson (150th).