Copenhagen, Aug 08: Raphael Jacquelin of France shot an opening round of 10-under-par 62 to take a three stroke lead in the Nordic Open Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin's blistering 10-under-par 62 in the first round of the Nordic Open on Thursday put the tournament's two main attractions, Colin Montgomerie and Thomas Bjorn, firmly in the shade. The 29-year-old Jacquelin, with his girlfriend Fanny Charbre caddying for him for the first time, ran up an eagle and nine birdies on an unblemished card. He leads by three strokes from Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez and British pair Phillip Archer and Raymond Russell, who birdied the last six holes. While Montgomerie had no excuse for a lacklustre display on the greens in shooting a 70 to trail Jacquelin by eight shots, Bjorn was troubled by the neck spasms that have often blighted his career as he carded a 67 to lie five strokes behind.


The Danish home favourite, urged on by a huge crowd in the inaugural event at the Simon's club, began in fine style, moving to four-under after eight holes.


But he then made three bogeys in five holes before rallying to pick up four shots in the last four.


Montgomerie had no problems with the hand injury that caused him to pull out of the British Open after only seven holes but he did have his problems with the putter.

Jacquelin, with two top-10 finishes this season but still seeking his maiden title, was delighted to equal his career-best score and happy that his girlfriend's first stint on the bag proved a success.


"My usual caddie needs to be in Paris because of a few problems so I used his twin brother last week and that didn't work out," said Jacquelin, who hit the first shot in Denmark's first full tour event.


"Fanny is out with me every week, so she knows golf and wanted a try. A 62 is a good start."


Leading scores after the first round of the Nordic Open at the par-72 Simon's Golf Club on Thursday (Britain unless stated): 62 Raphael Jacquelin (France) 65 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain), Philip Archer, Raymond Russell 66 Andrew Coltart, Brian Davis, Maarten Olander (Sweden), Steve Webster, David Gilford, Andrew Raitt 67 Francois Delamontagne (France), Tobias Dier (Germany), Robert Karlsson (Sweden), David Park, Greg Turner (New Zealand), Fredrik Widmark (Sweden), Peter Baker, John Bickerton, Philip Golding, Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), David Lynn 68 Christian Cevaer (France), Robert-Jan Derksen (Netherlands), Marcus Fraser (Australia), Peter Jespersen (Denmark), Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark), Jan-Are Larsen (Norway), Mikael Lundberg (Sweden), Ian Poulter, Sven Struver (Germany), Klas Eriksson (Sweden), Gregory Havret (France), Matthew Cort, Roger Champman


Bureau Report