Rock and Wood lead way at Italian Open

English duo Robert Rock and Chris Wood lead the way at the Italian Open with eight-under-par opening rounds giving them hope of a maiden European Tour title.

Damien McGrane and Darren Clarke finished on -1, tied in 72nd place.

Wood, a 23-year-old Bristolian who was named the tour’s ’Rookie of the Year’ two years ago, briefly took over at the top of the leaderboard on his own with an eagle at the 17th.

He was joined soon after by Rock, and when the 34-year-old from Rugeley managed a fifth successive birdie on the last it put him on top of the leaderboard on his own.

However, Wood – who reported back problems afterwards – was not to be outdone, holing a three-foot putt on the final hole soon after to make sure of a share of the clubhouse lead on a morning of good scoring at Roveri’s Royal Park club.

“It was good playing with Rocky and we seemed to fire off each other. It was a good round without a bogey – always nice to play that way,” Wood told www.europeantour.com afterwards.

Rock added: “Nine birdies and one bogey was good. I love this course and it was good to be in a group where someone else was knocking them in and I enjoyed playing with Chris.

“I holed quite a lot of putts today, which is something that has been testing me over the last couple of months.”

Scotland’s Scott Jamieson was among a group of three players a shot further back on seven under par, finishing an impressive round which contained an early eagle with a birdie.

Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark and Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello both enjoyed bogey-free rounds of 65 to sit alongside Jamieson.

Seven players finished tied for sixth on six under, including Italian pair Matteo Manassero and Francesco Molinari, and Welshman Rhys Davies.

Teenager Manassero, who made his professional debut at this event last year, scored five birdies and an eagle at the par-five 11th while Molinari also sank an eagle at the same hole.

Davies recovered from a dropped shot on the opening hole by hitting eight birdies, including four in succession between the fifth and eighth holes.

Colin Montgomerie finished a long way down the field, signing for a three-over-par 75 in a opening round which included a double bogey at the 13th.

After crashing out of the Wales Open on 15 over a week ago, the Scot knows he is facing a battle to make sure of his place at this year’s Open.

Fredrik Andersson Hed will also need to make impressive progress over the next few days if he is to successfully defend his title, after an opening-round 70 left him six shots off the pace on two under.