Orr outshines Monty in Spain

Gary Orr outshone fellow Scot Colin Montgomerie to grab a share of the lead when the Spanish Open resumed at San Roque today.

While Montgomerie could not improve on his eight under position over the opening six holes, Orr birdied five of them.

That took the 38-year-old into a tie for top spot with Swede Niclas Fasth, England’s Graeme Storm and David Griffiths and Dane Thomas Bjorn.

Former Ryder Cup player Fasth birdied the first, eagled the long second and then birdied the 371-yard third.

Bjorn, meanwhile, picked up where he left off in the second round.

He followed up his 64 with two opening birdies, pitching to seven feet on the first and two-putting from the fringe of the second.

It was Storm, the 1999 British amateur champion, who led overnight at 12 under and he two-putted the second to get back into a tie for the lead.

When Fasth birdied the fifth to go ahead on his own at 14 under he had nothing but threes on his scorecard.

But then came a bogey five and, with Orr having dropped a stroke as well, it dropped Fasth into a five-way tie with Storm, Griffiths, Bjorn and also Robert Karlsson, who, after a course-record 63 in the second round, birdied the second and third.

Seventeen players were separated by just three shots, but then Storm, leading a European tour event this week for the first time in his career, edged ahead again when he had his second birdie of the day on the 379-yard fifth.