Golf: McGinley puts in 'steady round'

Ireland’s Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington were only reasonably satisfied with an eight under par 64 at the EMC World Cup.

McGinley conjured up a superb up and down for birdie on the last after his approach to the par five had ended up nestling behind a spectator’s handbag.

‘‘It was a steady round, we didn’t really do much more than we expected to,’’ said McGinley who finished second behind his team-mate in the Volvo Masters in Spain on Sunday.

‘‘We didn’t set the place alight but we didn’t do ourselves any damage either.

‘‘Overall it’s about a fair reflection of the way we played. We didn’t play well enough to lead the tournament but we certainly didn’t play bad enough to keep ourselves out of it.

‘‘We’re very fortunate that we were able to play on the best greens I’ve ever played on the European Tour in Montecastillo last week. It’s a good bonus having putted on such fast greens last week to come to these which are fantastic as well.’’

Dean Robertson enjoyed his second appearance in the EMC World Cup considerably more than the first after helping steer Scotland to the top of the leaderboard in Japan.

Robertson partnered Colin Montgomerie in 1999 after enjoying what was then his most successful season on the European tour, claiming his maiden victory in the Italian Open.

However, what should have been a great experience turned into a nightmare as the 31-year-old fell ill with a mystery virus on his return from Malaysia which left him unable to eat or sleep properly for three months - his weight plummeting to under 10st and putting him out of action for four months.

There were no such problems today however as Robertson combined superbly with Andrew Coltart to card a 10-under-par 62 and claim a share of the first round lead with playing partners Sweden and surprise package Canada.

Spain, inspired by an eight-birdie burst from Sergio Garcia playing alongside Miguel Angel Jimenez, and the New Zealand pairing of Michael Campbell and David Smail were a shot off the lead after 63s with three of the pre-tournament favourites Ireland, South Africa and Japan, another shot adrift.

Defending champions Tiger Woods and David Duval found themselves four shots off the pace, the curiously subdued pair’s cause not helped by picking up a two-shot penalty after Duval had taken an illegal practice putt on the 16th.

That hole was kinder to Robertson, producing one of his seven birdies in a flawless round.

‘‘I think today we would have settled for five or six under par, so 10 under is a real bonus,’’ Robertson admitted.

‘‘We got off to a great start when I holed from off the green on the first for a birdie and whenever one of us was having a bad hole the other was making birdie.’’

In fact Robertson’s was the only score to figure on the Scots’ scorecard for the first eight holes under the four-ball better-ball format with birdies on the first, third, sixth and seventh coupled with four pars.

Coltart’s first birdie of the day on the ninth took the pair out in 31 and three more birdies from Robertson and two from Coltart coming home saw them back in 31 as well.

It could have been even better after Coltart had already secured a birdie four on the 18th but Robertson missed his eagle putt from six feet.

‘‘I mis-hit that one badly,’’ he admitted. ‘‘It would have been a lovely way to finish on a lovely day.’’

The Swedish pairing of Robert Karlsson and Niclas Fasth did manage to eagle the last, courtesy of Karlsson, who had also eagled the sixth.

England’s finish was even more spectacular than Paul McGinley’s, Ian Poulter’s three-wood approach from 241 yards pulling up just six inches away from the hole to set up the easiest eagle putt of the day.

That gave Poulter and partner Paul Casey, named European Tour Rookie of the Year on Monday, a seven-under-par 65 with Casey contributing four of the team’s five birdies.

‘‘We left a few shots out there but all in all seven under is no t a bad score,’’ said Poulter who showed no ill effects from only arriving at 8.30pm on Tuesday evening after taking seven hours to obtain the necessary visa at the Japanese embassy in London on Monday.

‘‘The shot to the last was perfect except I just pushed it a bit, six inches right!

‘‘Paul and I gelled very nicely, we both hit a couple of loose shots at times but you can get away with that in fourballs.’’

The Welsh pairing of Phillip Price and Mark Mouland had to settle for a 66 after racing to the turn in 30 but managing only a level par back nine, the Canadian team of Mike Weir and Ian Leggatt in contrast covering the same stretch in just 29 strokes.

‘‘We were cruising but just one birdie on the back nine and the bogey on 14 really stopped us in our tracks,’’ said Mouland on his World Cup debut.

‘‘It was frustrating after such a good start that nothing happened on the back nine, I played rubbish on the back nine and was no help and put Phillip under more pressure.’’