Romero sets first day pace

Argentina's Eduardo Romero made the most of calm early conditions at Carnoustie on Thursday, firing a seven-under-par 65 for a one-shot lead in the Dunhill Links Championship's opening round.

The veteran European Tour player, who won the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond in July, reeled off eight birdies and a bogey-five to move a stroke clear of Ireland's Padraig Harrington, South African Nic Lawrence and India's Jyoti Randhawa.

"I played very solidly and I am putting extremely well," said the mustachioed Argentine. "I think I only had 24 putts.

"It is my best round at Carnoustie, but there was very little wind early on."

Harrington, a member of Europe's triumphant Ryder Cup team at The Belfry Sunday, and Lawrence both produced their six-under-par rounds at Carnoustie after a day of sunshine on the Fife coastline.

Randhawa, one of the late starters who had to contend with freshening winds in the afternoon, bounced back from a shaky start with four birdies in his last five holes at Kingsbarns.

Denmark's Thomas Bjorn, another member of last week's successful European side, was a further stroke back on 67 in a tie for fifth with Spaniard Santiago Luna and Sweden's Mikael Lundberg.

Bjorn and Luna were both at Carnoustie while Lundberg opened at St. Andrews.

The 48-year-old Romero, who first played in Europe in 1984, got off to a fast start with birdies at the first two holes. He then picked up further shots at the fifth and sixth to reach the turn in four-under 32.

Although he dropped his only stroke of the day at the par-four 11th, he recovered with birdies at 12, 14, 15 and at the last to set the early pace in the lucrative $5million event.

Harrington, the world number nine, holed out with a sand wedge from 112 yards for an eagle-two at Carnoustie's par-four third on his way to a 66.

The 31-year-old Dubliner, who lies third on the European order of merit, also collected five birdies and a bogey-five at the fourth to maintain the consistent form he has displayed for most of the year.

"Carnoustie was a lovely course to play today," said the Irishman.

"It is obviously a tough golf course but they have set it up nicely for this week. We are not falling off the back of the tee boxes -- as we were in our amateur days -- and the pin positions were generous."

Randhawa, who returned to competitive golf only a month ago after breaking his collar bone in a motorcycle accident during March, was delighted with his opening round.

"I've only been playing the last two weeks without pain-killers and my right shoulder is still a little restricted," said the Indian professional.

"I'm fresh now after all those months of sitting around and I'm pretty satisfied with that (66).

"I got my act together on the back nine today and birdied four of the last five holes, which was a good finish for me."

Among the bigger names in the 168-strong field, 2001 U.S. Open winner Retief Goosen, twice major champion Vijay Singh and seven-times European number one Colin Montgomerie all returned two-under-par 70s at Carnoustie.

"I received a lovely welcome today, which was very nice -- very enjoyable," said Montgomerie, who was Europe's most successful player in last week's Ryder Cup at The Belfry.

But world number three Ernie Els, the British Open champion who finished second in the event last year, struggled to a level-par 72 at the same course, offsetting three birdies with three dropped shots.

Defending champion Paul Lawrie, playing at Kingsbarns, opened with a disappointing two-over-par 74.

A total of 168 teams, featuring one professional and one amateur, will play one round over the Old Course at St. Andrews, the championship course at Carnoustie and Kingsbarn Golf Links in this week's event.

After three rounds, the field is cut to the leading 60 professionals and ties and the 20 leading teams, who will play the last 18 holes at St. Andrews Sunday.

The line-up of celebrities taking part includes former sportsmen Steve Redgrave, Nigel Mansell, Ruud Gullit, Ian Botham, Johan Cruyff, Bobby Charlton, Kenny Dalglish, Gavin Hastings, Michael Lynagh and Gary Lineker.

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