Fog delays start at the Belfry

The start of the second round of the Quinn Insurance British Masters has been delayed because of fog.

The first players were due to tee off at 7.30am, but the action will not start until 9am at the earliest.

Swede Mikael Lundberg and Australian Marcus Fraser led by a shot overnight from defending champion Lee Westwood, fellow Englishman Sam Walker, Scot Marc Warren, Dane Anders Hansen and Argentina’s Rafa Echenique.

Conditions were still not clear enough to start at 9am and, with the players being promised a 30-minute warm-up notice, there was now no chance of the second round being completed before nightfall.

Even with no hold-up the late starters in the opening round had finished in gathering gloom just before 7pm.

At least spectators would have no trouble seeing most of them when the action got under way. Pink was the colour of the day to raise money for breast cancer charities.

The tournament is run by International Sports Management. Darren Clarke is one of their clients and his wife Heather died of breast cancer just before the 2006 Ryder Cup.