Ramsey in front as Irish toil

IRELAND’S challenge failed to ignite in the first round of the Andalucian Masters at Valderrama yesterday as Scotland’s Richie Ramsey jumped into a two-stroke lead with a sparkling six under par 66 in spite of finishing with bogeys at the 17th and 18th.

Ramsey was out in the first match of a day that dawned in lashing rain which relented for the most part before play began. But the course was sodden, preferred lies had to be introduced and the greens were so soft that controlling the spin on their approach shots represented major problems.

Ramsey looked to be headed for a remarkable score when standing eight under after 16 but he bogeyed each of the last two. The 28-year-old from Aberdeen finished two ahead of English Ryder Cup player, Ross Fisher, who was delighted with his score given that he ran up a triple bogey at the eighth, where he drove out of bounds.