Malmo, Aug 01: New European Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer showed his playing career is by no means over with a score of 70 in the first round of the Scandinavian Masters on Thursday (July 31). The German's short game brought him a two-under-par score but he trails British joint leaders Andrew Coltart, Nick Dougherty and David Gilford by three shots. New Zealander Stephen Scahill hit six birdies in his round or four under with his compatriot Michael Campbell, who won the Irish Open last weekend, level with Langer at two-under par. Coltart turned back the clock with a stunning display of putting to take an early one-shot lead. But he was later joined at the top of the leaderboard by Dougherty and Gilford. Coltart, a member of the losing Ryder Cup team in 1999, holed three times from 10 metres or more to record a five-under-par 67 at Barseback and lead Maarten Lafeber of the Netherlands and and Korean Kevin Na by a stroke.


Leading first round scores from the Scandinavian Masters at the par-72, 7,365-yard, Barseback Golf and Country Club on Thursday (British unless stated): 67 Andrew Coltart, Nick Dougherty, David Gilford 68 Maarten Lafeber (Netherlands), Kevin Na (South Korea), Stephen Scahill (New Zealand) 69 Carlos Rodiles (Spain), Simon Hurd, Mathias Gronberg (Sweden), Greg Turner (New Zealand), Carl Pettersson (Sweden), Mark James, Benn Barham 70 Adam Scott (Australia), Michael Campbell (New Zealand), Steve Webster, Bernhard Langer (Germany), Peter Hedblom (Sweden), Alessandro Tadini (Italy), Mark Pilkington, Gregory Havret (France), Simon Wakefield 71 Philip Archer, Stephen Dodd, Richard Bland, Brian Davis, Gary Orr, Terry Price (Australia), Jarmo Sandelin (Sweden), Alex Larrazabal (Spain), Luke Donald, Robert Karlsson (Sweden), Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark), Richard Johnson (Sweden), Barry Lane, Greg Owen, Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden), Mark Roe, Paul Broadhurst


Bureau Report