Arden sapling downs Martin

FOUR Englishmen share the lead after the first round of the €2.5m Daily Telegraph-Dunlop Masters at the Forest of Arden.

There are eight Irishmen involved, with Paul McGinley and Damien McGrane three off the pace on even par after a long, but always interesting, opening day on this fine midlands course.

Yet, the week continues to be dominated by controversial happenings on the course, initially with the sequel to Colin Montgomerie’s Indonesian episode in March, followed yesterday by the disqualification of the Spaniard Miguel-Angel Martin for the fifth time in his career.