Lyle turns back the clock

Sandy Lyle brought back some happy memories from the distant past with an eventful start to the Volvo Masters at Valderrama today.

While Retief Goosen and Padraig Harrington waited for their Order of Merit title, Lyle took a share of the early lead.

With the Spanish course proving its usual difficult self Lyle’s birdies at the third and fifth, sandwiched either side of a bogey six, were good enough to put him alongside Swedish quartet Robert Karlsson, Carl Pettersson, Fredrik Jacobson and Jarmo Sandelin, Dutchmen Maarten Lafeber and Rolf Muntz and Italian Costantino Rocca.

The 44-year-old Scot’s last tournament victory was this event 10 years ago when he beat Colin Montgomerie in a play-off on the same course.

His decline since then is indicated by the fact he has not even appeared in the last six Volvo Masters – only 66 players take part – but this year Lyle has shown real signs of recovery.

Last season he finished 152nd and it was 1995 since he last finished in the top 100.

Rocca’s presence on the leaderboard – at the course where he beat Tiger Woods in the 1997 Ryder Cup – was bad news for England’s Gary Emerson.

After last week’s Italian Open Emerson was left in 116th spot on the Order of Merit and as he sat out this week he knew if either Rocca or Tony Johnstone went past him he would lose his tour card and have to attend the qualifying school for the 10th time in his career.

Rocca is 158th on the money list, but qualified for the Volvo Masters because of the 10-year exemption he earned for winning the Volvo PGA championship at Wentworth in 1996.

Rocca, with no worries about the qualifying school, has to finish sixth to overhaul Emerson, while Johnstone (one over par after three holes) requires fifth spot.