Lawrie one off pace after 68

IRELAND’S Peter Lawrie, European Tour rookie of the year in 2003, was among an eight-strong group on four under at Laguna National, just a shot off the clubhouse leaders in Singapore yesterday.

Australia’s Peter Fowler and France’s Thomas Levet set the clubhouse target at five under after early rounds of 67 before an afternoon thunderstorm forced play to be suspended.

New Zealand’s Eddie Lee was eight under par with one hole to play and among 57 players unable to finish their rounds. The first round will resume at 8am local time this morning.

Lawrie would have shared the clubhouse lead but lipped out from five feet for birdie on the last, but was satisfied with his score after struggling with jet-lag.

“The putt horse-shoed on the last but I would take four 68s this week,” said the 29-year-old Dubliner, the first Irish golfer to win the rookie of the year award.

“I didn’t sleep too well last night and I feel tired. I was in bed early but I could have run a marathon at 1am I was so wide awake. I was watching the clock all night until getting up at 5.30am.

“I’ve played a lot of golf lately (this is his eighth event of the year) but I have a week off after this before playing in Portugal and two more weeks off after that. “I need to recharge the batteries for the big events coming up.”

Paul McGinley, meanwhile, shot a round of 71.

Just as he had feared, Colin Montgomerie made one vital error to dent his chances of qualifying for next week’s Players Championship in the Caltex Masters. Montgomerie bogeyed the final hole to card a one under par 71.

Joint clubhouse leader Levet tried his luck on the US Tour last season after coming to prominence with his play-off defeat in the 2002 Open to Ernie Els, but struggled to make an impression and returned to Europe.

He has already enjoyed two third place finishes this season and said: “Basically my game is in very good shape. I missed only two greens all day and my putting was much more solid than of late.

“I’ve got no worries about my long game and it’s been a case of being patient and waiting for the putting to come right. I have been playing better and better and if I can stay patient I hope to get the rewards. My big goal is the Ryder Cup.

“At the moment I am a long way from that but what happens between now and the end of August depends on the big tournaments. You need to win one of the big money ones like that Volvo PGA Championship or the European Open. Win one of them and you can take a big step towards the Ryder Cup.

“I have won before and I have the taste for it, especially after getting to close to Ernie at Muirfield,” he said.

Meanwhile, Lian-Wei Zhang, whose win last year made him the first Chinese winner on the European Tour, could only manage an opening 72, but was celebrating another first after receiving a special invitation to the US Masters.

“After playing professional golf for 10 years I never thought I would get the opportunity to play on the US Tour, let alone the Masters. It’s a dream come true,” said Zhang, who will be the first Chinese player to play at Augusta.