Donald dashes to the front

Luke Donald made exactly the flying start to the Ryder Cup campaign he was looking for in the Swiss Alps today.

Back on the Crans-sur-Sierre course where he won by five on his first visit last year – he never scored worse than 67 – Donald played the first 10 holes of his Omega European Masters title defence in four under par.

That put the 27-year-old world number 14 into a share of the lead with fellow Englishmen David Carter and Oliver Wilson.

Donald, starting on the back nine, had a hat-trick of birdies from the 14th and after following them with a bogey came back by picking up further strokes at the 18th and long first.

“Obviously I’d like to qualify by rights from my own efforts rather than rely on a wild card,” he had said on the eve of the event.

“It can’t do any harm to accumulate some world ranking points and prize money early.”

Donald was selected by Bernhard Langer a year ago and partnered Sergio Garcia to two foursomes victories in the record-breaking victory in Detroit.

He then went on to capture the World Cup with Paul Casey in November, but while he has yet to taste success this season a second-place finish in the Players Championship and third place on his Masters debut have taken him close to his main goal for the year of a place in the world’s top 10.

Garcia and Casey were among the later starters today, but Miguel Angel Jimenez, the only other member of last year’s side in the event and runner-up to Donald 12 months ago, had some catching up to do after bogeys at the 13th and long 15th.

The Spaniard did get back to one over, however, with a birdie at the first.

Wilson, in his first season on the European Tour, covered the front nine in 32, while Carter, who won the World Cup with Nick Faldo in 1998 but had to go back to the tour qualifying school two years ago, was also four under with five to play.