Old timers lead the way

European Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance and Eamonn Darcy proved there was still life in the old dogs yet, taking advantage of a revolutionary new ball for an early share of the Italian Open first round lead on Thursday.

Former double Italian Open winner Torrance of Scotland, 47, and Irishman Darcy, 48, carded seven-under-par 65s to share a one-stroke lead with England's Van Phillips.

Sweden's Pierre Fulke and Steen Tinning of Denmark shot 66s, while Torrance's playing-partner Lee Westwood, the current European number one and tournament favourite, had a poor putting round for a 67.

Torrance has admitted that one of the 47 names to watch out for in his 'little black book' for the 2001 Ryder Cup is his own.

If he continues to get the best out of the new ball, the Scot may finish up in Europe's top 10 qualifiers, although he has insisted he would then step down as captain.

"I'm still keen as mustard," said Torrance, whose only blemish was a drive of 355 yards into a ditch. "I'm hitting this new Titleist V1382 ball 20 yards further.

"I tried it out last week for the first time and it's delicious. I'm like a dog with two tails."

Darcy had praised new technology last week, using the same ball as Torrance's and his new 'ERC' driver to get on the leaderboard in the Turespana Masters in Madrid.

Only a bogey on the 18th in the third round and three successive bogeys to finish on the last day denied Darcy third place.

While Torrance is looking for a top-five finish to make it to next week's lucrative Volvo Masters, the veteran Irishman still needs to finish in the first three to avoid relying on invitations to extend his 30-year run on tour.

"I'm delighted with the way I've been hitting this new ball over the last month and it's given me a new lease of life," said Darcy. "I should have been third last week, so I decided to go out there and give it a go this week."

Co-leader Phillips, meanwhile, was delighted with the Is Molas greens as he had his best putting day of the year, but Westwood was unhappy.

Westwood, looking for a victory which would extend his rankings lead to over 200,000 dollars, said: "The longest putt I sank to do anything today was my four-footer for eagle on the 15th.

"I think they put goalkeepers out there for me.

"I hit very few bad shots, but I took 33 putts and I need the putts to drop if I'm going to take advantage."

The 27-year-old Englishman said he would miss next year's opening major, the U.S. Masters, if the birth of his first child to wife Laurae in April coincided with Augusta. "If it falls on that week then I'll not be at the Masters," he said.

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