Roe's putting helps him into Italian Open lead

Mark Roe returned to the putter which almost brought him British Open championship glory to claim a share of the lead in the Italian Open today.

Roe dug the club out of his garage and carded six birdies and a closing eagle for an eight under par 64 to join France’s Gregory Havret at the top of the leaderboard at Castello di Tolcinasco.

New Zealand’s Michael Campbell and Sweden’s Christopher Hanell were a shot behind after rounds of 65, with Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell and Argentina’s Cesar Monasterio another stroke adrift.

Pre-tournament favourite Ian Poulter threw a spectator’s mobile phone into a bin on his way to an opening 68, while Jose Maria Olazabal’s struggles continued with a 74.

“I’ve been playing absolutely beautifully all year, played five events and made five cuts and just not been holing any putts,” said Roe, whose last tour victory came a decade ago.

“But the second I got here I liked the greens, there was no grain and I could see the lines again, and I changed my putter and dug out the old one from the garage.

“I’ve had it for six or seven years and it’s astonishing it has survived that long. It’s been discarded in a few places but I have always gone back for it. I’ve ran the other one over with the car to make sure it can never come back.

“It’s the same one I used at Sandwich so maybe it feels guilty, it feels like it owes me something.”

Roe was famously disqualified from the British Open last year after failing to exchange scorecards with playing partner Jesper Parnevik before firing a third round 67 which would have left him just two shots off the lead and playing with Tiger Woods in the final round.

British Open organisers the Royal & Ancient moved this week to try to ensure there will be no repeat at Troon in July, reducing the number of people in the recording area and using R&A officials rather than club members to check scorecards.

But Roe insisted that was not “a step in the right direction” and repeated his calls for scorers from the US and European Tours to be employed instead.

“The R&A don’t have to take my comments on board and nobody had spoken to me since the incident,” added the 41-year-old from Sheffield.

“But every single player of the 200 who came up to me afterwards asked for the same thing, somebody professional who does the job full-time in the scoring hut for the biggest championship in the world.

“It’s a joke to have volunteers doing the scorecards. If I had not been disqualified Phillip Price and Stuart Appleby (who encountered a similar problem just minutes after Roe) would have been as well because they would not have spotted that one either.

“Let’s have the best people, which is those who do it every single week. They are familiar with the players who are sat in front of them.”

Poulter, who is seeking his third Italian Open title in five years, was again frustrated by his putting and failure to take advantage of the par fives, and also by the numerous interruptions caused by spectators’ mobile phones.

The 28-year-old finally lost patience on the 11th hole, adding: “That was the fifth phone of the day so I asked him if I could have his phone, he gave it to me and I turned it off and threw it in the bin.

“We’d asked him to turn it off and he wouldn’t and he’s in the middle of the hole while we’re playing.”

Poulter added: “I shouldn’t be happy shooting four under par playing the par fives like an idiot but it's nothing new. It is getting frustrating and I can’t let it get to me.”

“I’m getting rid of my frustration before I get to the next tee which is good and if I start rolling a few putts I will win, very soon. I’m playing too good not to.”

Meanwhile, Campbell bounced back from his US Masters disappointment to card seven birdies and no bogeys in his 65.

The Kiwi missed the cut at Augusta for the fourth year in a row after a bogey on his final hole but put a new pre-shot routine into practice in Milan.

“I played great in the last round at Augusta but missed by one and took two weeks off and came out firing today,” added Campbell, who came to prominence in his rookie season of 1995 by leading the British Open at St Andrews after three rounds and just missing out on the play-off between John Daly and Costantino Rocca.

“I’m being more fastidious on my pre-shot routine, so much so that’s almost down to the second on every shot. I used to be too technical and thinking about the golf swing but I’m trying to put that behind me and concentrate on scoring.”