SCOT Marc Warren maintained his focus on the Italian Open to lead for much of the first round yesterday, despite admitting he and Alastair Forsyth will have a private jet on stand-by for the Uefa Cup final next week.
Forsyth, though, may well have had an eye on the City of Manchester Stadium after finishing yesterday with a two-over-par 74.
Warren and Mark Foster of England were the early pacesetters at the Castello di Tolcinasco G & CC in Milan, while twice
major champion John Daly fired a five-under 67 in the first round yesterday to record his best round in four months, which left him two strokes behind Warren and Foster.
England's Ross McGowan and Marco Ruiz of Paraguay enjoyed late runs to finish at eight-under to head into today's second round with a single-shot lead over the British pair.
Warren and Forsyth, meanwhile, will use the jet employed by Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke so they can practise for the Irish Open at Adare Manor near Limerick, fly to Manchester for Rangers' game against Zenit St Petersburg on Wednesday and then back again for the first round of the tournament the following day.
"They haven't actually given us the price of it, so that could be a bit of a stumbling block," said Warren. "But Alastair's won a few bob in recent weeks, so I am sure he can afford it."
Foster was first to a seven-under score of 65 in Milan yesterday and said he had to regroup after throwing away a winning chance last week with a closing 76 in Seville. Warren, with two tour victories to Foster's one, matched him as the pair edged a shot ahead of Swede Alexander Noren, Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay and another Briton, Oliver Wilson.
Daly, the big-hitting American, ranked 609 in the world and without a full US PGA Tour card, shot a 66 in the first round of the Mayakoba Classic on the Nationwide Tour in February for his best finish of the year at tied 60th. He has struggled with a rib injury sustained over a year ago and cited a return to the swing that earned him five PGA titles as well as British Open and PGA Championship wins as the catalyst for a round that included a four-under back nine of 32.
"It's nice to be healthy again because the year or more with the rib problem was brutal for me," the 42-year-old said. "And it's nice to have my old swing back. It's come back quicker than I thought. Last week I was four-under for my last nine in Seville (at the Spanish Open], so I got some positives from that and this week I moved up my stance a little on the range to help my swing."
He said last week that coach Butch Harmon had apologised for parting company with him over media reports Daly had been drinking in the hospitality tent of one of his charities at the Tampa Bay Championship in March. Daly denied the reports.
After missing the cut in Seville at the first of two invitational appearances in Europe, Daly also noted improvements in his putting, which has let him down in the past. "The work with all the magic putting devices I've tried seems to be working as well and it's so peaceful here I've had plenty of time to work on my game," he said.
George Murray and Gary Orr both finished with a three-under 69, while Andrew McArthur was a shot further back and Stephen Gallacher, Steven O'Hara and Craig Lee finished yesterday with a par 72.
David Drysdale and Richie Ramsay finished at one-over.
The full article contains 633 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
