Landmark for Lane

Barry Lane found himself in the company of stars today when he became just the 10th player in European tour history to clock up 500 events.

The 43-year-old’s victory in the British Masters two weeks ago led to him being paired with world number three Ernie Els and Justin Rose for the first two rounds of the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open in Heidelberg.

Lane had a rough introduction to the St Leon-Rot course, however. He found a horrid lie in the left-hand rough on the 455-yard 10th – his first – and his attempted recovery finished in the face of a bunker 100 yards short of the green.

From there he could advance it only about 30 yards, but the former Ryder Cup player made a seven-foot putt for bogey, then birdied the next.

Els and Rose started with two pars, although Rose had a search for his ball in the rough at the 10th, and that immediately left the trio chasing Els’s fellow South African Trevor Immelman, who in the group ahead of them birdied the 10th, 11th and 13th.

The 24-year-old, winner of the South African Open the last two years, led by a stroke from playing partner Angel Cabrera, joint runner-up behind Lane at the Forest of Arden.

That was the Henley-based player’s first tour victory for 10 years and when he went to his mobile phone after the trophy ceremony and press conference there were already more than 60 missed calls or text messages.

“The response was fantastic,” said Lane.

Defending champion Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood and Colin Montgomerie – 50th in the world and needing to stay in the top 50 this week to be exempt for the Open at his home club Royal Troon in July – were among the later starters.

Harrington took the title in Hamburg 12 months ago. All three previous stagings of the event at St Leon-Rot were won by Tiger Woods, but the world number one has not made the trip over this time.

Immelman continued his flying start when he added further birdies at the 14th and 15th to be five under after only six holes.

Cabrera matched the first of those, but not the second and so was two behind, as was Canada-based Scot Alan McLean and also Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez, still on a high it seemed from his third victory of the season in Shanghai on Sunday. He birdied the 10th and then eagled the 12th.

Lane, meanwhile, birdied the long 12th and then the 14th to be two under, while Els was one under and Rose, making his first appearance in Europe this season, was level par after a bogey on the short 13th and birdie at the next.

Also level par was Nick Faldo, wearing glasses on the course for the first time in a few years in a bid to avoid a third successive missed cut.