Els shows top form at Loch Lomond

Ernie Els today demonstrated he was in prime form ahead of the defence of his Open title in the rain delayed Scottish Open.

Four hours’ play was lost this morning after heavy rain saturated the Loch Lomond course, causing play to be suspended at 9.15am with less than half the 156-man field out on the course.

Play was eventually able to resume at 1.15pm but the later starters would not now complete the first round on schedule this evening.

Els had played three holes before the initial downpour forced the players off the course, the Open champion opening with three straight pars.

The 33-year-old was quickly into red figures on the resumption however, birdies at the 13th, 14th and 15th taking him into a share of the lead with Spain’s Carlos Rodiles, who had picked up three birdies in his first four holes.

Els had virtually written off his Open chances last year after a poor showing at Loch Lomond where he could only finish in a tie for 50th place.

And the world number two was going all out to avoid a similar performance this week as he tried to maintain his remarkable form on the European Tour this season, with two victories, two second places and three other top six finishes in his seven strokeplay events.

“I was really worried going into last year’s Open championship,” reflected Els, who also won back-to-back tournaments in America at the start of the year and has a worst finish of joint 38th on either side of the Atlantic.

“We had a press conference on the Tuesday and I said I didn’t have much chance, but things changed and that’s the game of golf. You find a little key and off you go, and that’s what happened.

“I finished well down here last year, barely made the cut, didn’t have a particularly good weekend and didn’t really enjoy the weather either.

“I did a lot of work on the Monday and Tuesday before Muirfield and it started coming together. But I want to play well this week.”

Els and Rodiles were one shot clear of a group of players including Londoner Brian Davis, South African Tim Clark and Welshman Philip Price, the Ryder Cup hero continuing his form of last week when he captured the Smurfit European Open.

Former European number one Lee Westwood and good friend Darren Clarke were both one over par after nine and eight holes respectively however, with defending champion Eduardo Romero, playing alongside Clarke and Els, a shot further back.

John Daly was also two over par but that did not tell the whole story of his rollercoaster round so far.

The former Open champion had played just one hole this morning before play was suspended, running up a triple bogey on the 10th.

The 455-yard par four is described in the tournament programme as ‘one of the most scenic and demanding par fours anywhere in golf’ by course designer Tom Weiskopf, but Daly was certainly not admiring the view after carving his drive into trees to the right of the fairway.

The ball could not be found and Daly had to walk all the way back to the tee to play another, this time finding the fairway and then a greenside bunker before holing out for a seven.

Things did improve on the resumption though, the American dropping just one shot on the 11th and then carding birdies on the next two holes.

Colin Montgomerie and Phil Mickelson were among the afternoon starters who would now not venture out onto the course until shortly before 5pm.