Casey leads after birdie blitz

ENGLAND'S Paul Casey survived everything the notorious Melbourne weather could throw at him to shoot a seven-under-par round of 65 and hold the overnight lead at the Heineken Classic in Melbourne.

The 25-year-old from Cheltenham teed off in the teeming rain and was putting on the 11th, his second, when play was suspended for 90 minutes as the greens became waterlogged.

But once the fickle Melbourne weather had turned warm and sunny again, Casey put together an almost faultless display to shoot eight birdies and claim the outright lead at Royal Melbourne.

Spaniard Santiago Luna, who made a storming start with five birdies in his first six holes, finished a shot further back on six under par.

English pair Warren Bennett and Gary Evans were tied on five under par with Australians Peter Fowler and Peter Lonard, whose round of 67 was bogey free.

Home favourite Greg Norman slumped to a one-over round of 73, while tournament favourite Ernie Els also struggled.

The South African, coming off the back of two victories and a second place in his last three tournaments, bogeyed his first and had to fight to remain at even par.

But the suspension in play allowed the defending champion the opportunity to "regroup" - and he eventually battled to finish at two under par.

Meanwhile, Nick Faldo eventually clawed his way back to three under after dropping three shots in two holes just as the winds picked up.

Casey, a member of England's World Cup team and the victorious Seve Trophy side of last year, could not remember ever having led a professional tournament after the opening round.

"I have done it plenty of times as an amateur and it is something I would like to do more," he said.

The opening day's play was divided distinctly in two by the torrential downpour and buffeting winds.

The early starters had enjoyed comfortable conditions allowing Fowler, Bennett and Evans to post clubhouse scores of five under par.

The later groups were seriously hampered, so much so that Bennett felt an afternoon score of even par would be a significant achievement.

But once the strong winds and driving rain had died down, the sun returned and the conditions were perfect for enterprising golf.

Luna made the most of it, leading into the back nine on minus six while Casey dropped just the one shot all day.

The arrival of the elements coincided with Faldo almost wrecking what could have been a magnificent opening round with a bogey and double-bogey on successive holes to drop back to two under.

The five-time major champion slipped back from the pack of Englishmen at the top of the leaderboard, with a six on the par-four sixth, his 15th.

He eventually eked out a timely birdie on the ninth, his 18th, to finish on three under par.

Norman came into the tournament confident he was in the running to take away the title but he finished a disappointing eight shots off the overnight lead.

English trio Steve Webster, Ian Garbutt and former sheet-metal worker John Bickerton finished tied on four under with Argentinian Ricardo Gonzalez, Australians Stephan Allen and Lucas Parsons, Sweden's Niclas Fasth and New Zealander Greg Turner.