Fisher nets course record at European Open

England’s Ross Fisher continued to make it a week to remember when he began the European Open with a spectacular nine-under-par 63 at The London Club in Kent.

Three days after finishing joint third in the Open Championship qualifier at Sunningdale, the 27-year-old finished with six successive birdies to break the course record set by Seve Ballesteros in 1984 when he played in the official opening with designer Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin.

It was also the lowest round of his European Tour career.

Fisher was in the second group out at 7.40am and with 10 birdies in all – and a bogey – in the windy conditions he held an early four-stroke lead over Swede Peter Hedblom.

Defending champion Colin Montgomerie, meanwhile, was one under and Open champion Padraig Harrington only one over after a double-bogey six on the 454-yard sixth, his 15th.

Fisher could so easily have begun this season with a victory over Phil Mickelson in China but he chipped into water for a closing triple-bogey eight and lost the play-off to the American.

Montgomerie, who took second place in the French Open on Sunday with a closing 40-foot putt, picked up where he left off by starting with a 25-footer.

Further birdies came on the long 15th and 225-yard 17th, but Montgomerie, who said going into the event that he did not feel he had done enough yet to warrant a Ryder Cup wild card, failed to get up and down from bunkers on both the difficult 18th and short seventh.

Harrington was playing with Darren Clarke and Robert Karlsson and they were both level-par.

Clarke, seeking a top-five finish to get into the Open in two weeks’ time, had a real rollercoaster ride.

He followed two birdies in his first three with four bogeys in the next five, then had two more birdies early on the outward half.

England’s Oliver Wilson, meanwhile, has suffered a blow to his Ryder Cup hopes, pulling out of the tournament because of tendinitis in his left shoulder.

The Mansfield golfer lies eighth on the points table and looked set to move closer to securing a debut when he played the first nine holes of the French Open last week in four-under.

But it appeared there was something wrong when he struggled to complete that round in a five-over 76, then added a second day 81 to be joint 145th of the 156 players.

Runner-up three times this season, including the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in May, he was due to play with Sergio Garcia and Graeme McDowell today, but his place was taken by Swede Joakim Backstrom.

They were among the later starters along with Justin Rose and Paul McGinley, another still to claim a place in The Open after failing at Monday’s 36-hole qualifier at Sunningdale.

Wilson hopes to be back in action at next week’s Scottish Open, according to Robert Duck of his management company.

“The tendinitis has been brought on, it’s thought, by three weeks of playing on hard ground,” he said.

“The physios are going to monitor it and advised him not to compound the problem this week.”