Sam shows Ryder side how it's done

Sam Torrance showed 10 of his Ryder Cup side how to do it with a superb start to the €2million Smurfit European Open at the K Club near Dublin today.

Europe’s captain, only a month away from his 49th birthday and with a real desire to become the oldest-ever winner on the circuit, went to the turn in a three under par 34 and then grabbed another birdie the moment he switched to the outward half.

The monster 7,337-yard lay-out on which the 2006 Ryder Cup will be staged - stretch by over 100 yards since last year - was proving a stern test for some.

But Torrance, setting off on the back nine, birdied the 10th and 18th, both par fives, and the 173-yard 12th, where Australian Brett Rumford holed-in-one shortly afterwards.

Only 12 weeks away now from leading his team out at The Belfry, Torrance was one ahead of little-known Frenchman Sebastien Delagrange and also one of his cup debutants, Niclas Fasth.

The Swede, who lost a play-off for the Irish Open last Sunday, also birdied the 10th, pitching to within a few feet of the flag, and then picked up further strokes on the 13th and 16th.

Sergio Garcia and Jesper Parnevik were the only two members of his side absent and of the others Colin Montgomerie was going best at two under after seven holes.

Dubliner Paul McGinley had an adventurous start. He double-bogeyed the 10th, bogeyed the next, but then had three birdies in the space of five holes to clamber back to level par.

McGinley was returning from a two-week break he felt vital to recharge his batteries, having become ‘‘like a boxer throwing punches and not hitting the target’’.

He blamed his decline in form on mental tiredness caused by six trips across the Atlantic already this season - something he felt he had to do to gain more experience ahead of his first Ryder Cup appearance.

Padraig Harrington, McGinley’s likely partner against the Americans, bogeyed the 15th and 17th to fall six adrift of Torrance and Lee Westwood was similarly placed after dropping shots at the 11th and 13th.

Defending champion Darren Clarke was among the later starters, as was Order of Merit leader Retief Goosen.

Twice Open champion Greg Norman, partnering McGinley, turned in one under.