Patched-up Evans in contention

Gary Evans today made a solid start as he tested the shoulder injury he is hoping will not deny him another chance of Open championship glory.

Evans sprang to prominence with his memorable performance at Muirfield in 2002, finishing just one shot outside the four-man play-off won eventually by Ernie Els.

The 35-year-old from Worthing, who is now based in Dubai, lost a ball on the 17th hole of his final round but then holed a 50-foot putt for par before shouting “That’s for your mum,” into a nearby television camera.

He could be forced to miss this year’s championship at Royal Troon however if he needs surgery to cure a shoulder injury which forced him to pull out of his last event in Qatar.

But after successfully completing Wednesday’s pro-am at the Algarve Open de Portugal, Evans was back on the Penina course this morning in the early stages of the first round.

He looked to be suffering no ill-effects as he played his first nine holes of competition, although two birdies were cancelled out by three bogeys as he went to the turn in 38, one over par for Penina’s back nine.

That was five shots off the pace set by a group of five players, including Holland’s Rolf Muntz and Spain’s Jose Manuel Lara, who were playing together in the first match out.

They were four under after 13 holes, with Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson four under after 12, and France’s Gregory Havret on the same mark at the turn.

Scotland’s Gary Orr, the winner when the tournament was last played here in 2000, was also going well, a birdie at the 18th taking him out in 35, two under par.

Evans first felt pain in his right shoulder in the ANZ championship in Sydney in February but played in Dubai last month and managed 23 holes in Qatar before being forced to withdraw.

“I went home and got an MRI scan and it showed there was an osteophyte, which is a tooth-like bit of bone growing down from the shoulder which was striking against the tendon and causing the impingement and the pain,” Evans explained.

“There was a lot of fluid in the shoulder and they gave me two cortisone injections and if that doesn’t work it will be keyhole surgery.

“The cortisone doesn’t get rid of the problem but I’m trying to look on the bright side at the minute. I don’t want to be operated on unless I absolutely have to.

“They said the cortisone will last for eight to 10 weeks but if there is a problem I’d rather have it dealt with now and then I can be playing again in three or four weeks’ time.

“I don’t want to be playing for eight weeks and then all of a sudden for it to come back right during my favourite time of the year, June and July, I don’t want to be missing those tournaments.”