Rodiles sets early pace

Spain’s Carlos Rodiles made an instant impact on his return to European Tour action in the Spanish Open in Fuerteventura today.

The 28-year-old from Malaga was forced to withdraw from the Dubai Desert Classic in early March with a rib injury, damaging his hopes of qualifying for the Ryder Cup.

But he was quickly back to form in the Canary Islands this morning, carding four birdies in a row around the turn to move to the top of the leaderboard.

At four under par he was one shot ahead of Welshman David Park, who was three under after nine holes, with England’s Roger Chapman another shot back in third.

Pre-tournament favourite Jose Maria Olazabal was one over par after 13 holes, the double Masters champion carding just one birdie before dropping shots at the second and fourth.

Rodiles is yet to win a tournament but enjoyed a superb finish to last season which has put him in contention to qualify for the Ryder Cup in September.

He lost out to Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson on the fourth extra hole of a sudden-death play-off in the season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama in November, and earlier finished eighth in the Lancome Trophy and fifth in the German Masters, two of the first three events in the qualifying race.

“Last year I did half the work and this year I have the other half left to do,” said Rodiles, who currently occupies the final qualifying position for Bernhard Langer’s side.

“It’s not an easy task but it just means doing well on the days that matter. I’ve come here full of hope but not expecting much really.

“I went for a month and a half without touching a club. The injury was a torn tendon which left me with no other option but to relax and go through intensive rehabilitation.

“Everything came to a standstill. It broke my rhythm a bit but it also whetted my appetite for this week.”

The Ryder Cup is also in the thoughts of Olazabal, but he admits he is running out of time to qualify for a seventh appearance.

The 38-year-old has shown flashes of his best form this year with a first round of 65 at the BellSouth Classic followed by a traditional strong early showing at the US Masters.

But he has not won a European Tour title since the Hong Kong Open in November 2001 and is struggling to string four good rounds together.

“I would love to make the Ryder Cup team but my main concern right now is to be able to hit the ball better and enjoy myself and the rest will come,” said Olazabal.

“I can play good golf for a bunch of holes but then two or three bad ones spoil the round. It has been like that the whole year. I have had a few good scores but cannot do it for four days in a row.”