Mansell in contention

Nigel Mansell recovered from a nightmare start to card a one-over-par 73 and move into a challenging position after the first round of his own Nigel Mansell Classic staged over his own Woodbury Park course in Devon.

The former Formula 1 world champion, playing the event as an amateur, lost a ball off the tee on the 563-yard par five second and then dropped another two shots on the 413-yard par four fourth.

But he turned things around when he hit a spectacular 261-yard three-wood to within two feet of the hole on the 505-yard par five ninth to set up an eagle three.

Mansell, 50, then raced home in level par 36 to go into the second round six shots behind leader, Scotland’s Mike Miller, and five shots adrift of South Africa’s Neville Clarke, Chile’s Guillermo Encina, England’s Ian Mosey and Australia’s Ian Stanley.

“I was probably more nervous than I have ever been at a sports event,” the racing driver admitted.

“I don’t think I started breathing until I got to the seventh tee but the eagle on the ninth settled me down a bit and I was all right after that.”

England’s Denis Durnian shares sixth place with New Zealand’s Simon Owen, Japan’s Dragon Taki and America’s Hank Woodrome on three-under-par 69.