Six top crowded leaderboard

Zimbabwean Marc Cayeux took advantage of a last-minute call into the German Masters to grab a share of a six-way tie for the lead after Thursday's first round.

Cayeux was minutes away from setting off for the airport when he was handed injured Italian Emanuele Canonica's place and he responded with seven birdies in a six-under-par 66.

That put him in a tie with Australian Peter Senior, Britons Barry Lane, Bradley Dredge and Andrew Marshall and Austrian Markus Brier.

British-born Cayeux, who sends most of his earnings back home to his parents who are struggling to make ends meet, has had a colourful few weeks and his 10th-hour call-up added to that.

"I heard I was in at 10-o'clock after I'd been hanging around for three days not knowing whether I was playing or not," he told reporters.

"That's a horrible thing. I wanted to go home. This morning I even looked on the internet to check my ticket and change it to go home to Zimbabwe because I've been five months away and I'm pretty tired.

"I have made the most of this opportunity now. There was no expectation. I just saw where I wanted to go and hit it."

Cayeux was praised by Tiger Woods for his bravery after playing with the world number one for the opening two rounds of last month's WGC-NEC Invitational with a baseball glove insert inside his golf glove after burning his hand badly when lighting a barbecue.

Co-leader Lane is hoping to keep up his form for the duration of Europe's Ryder Cup points-counting campaign which started last week.

Lane wants another chance to rid himself of the disappointing memory of his only Ryder Cup appearance in 1993 when he lost to Chip Beck after leading by three with five holes to go.

"It (the 2006 Ryder Cup) is a long way away but I would love to play again, especially as I would be 46 by then," said Lane after handing in a faultless six-birdie card.

While Lane seeks his sixth European Tour title, the 46-year-old Senior is looking for his fifth.

South Africa's Retief Goosen, second behind New Zealander Michael Campbell in the race to be European number one, fired an opening 67 while the U.S. Open champion recorded a 71.

Canonica has a stiff neck and a fight to be fit for the Seve Trophy in two weeks' time.

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