Trio top first round leaderboard

American Rich Beem, the 2002 US PGA Champion, England's David Howell and Italy's Alessandro Tadini shared the first round lead in the dunhill links championship after all shooting 67 at Carnoustie.

They hold a one stroke lead over a predominantly British chasing pack of Paul Casey, Darren Clarke, Brian Davis, Nick Dougherty, Bradley Dredge, Kenneth Ferrie and Sam Torrance, along with South Africa's Keith Horne and Australia's Brett Rumford and Nick O'Hern.

The tournament, conceived as a celebration of links golf, is played over three of the world's best known and respected links courses - the Old Course at St Andrews, the Championship Course at Carnoustie and the highly regarded Kingsbarns Golf Links.

Joining the professionals were an enthusiastic group of talented amateur golfers including Boris Becker, Ian Botham, Sir Bobby Charlton, Johan Cruyff, Kenny Dalglish, Michael Douglas, Morné du Plessis, Ruud Gullit, Jodie Kidd, Kyle MacLachlan, Nigel Mansell, Sir Matthew Pinsent, Dan Quayle, Sir Steve Redgrave, Peter Schmeichel, Andrew Strauss, Michael Vaughan and Steve Waugh.

Although he missed the cut when he played at St Andrews in the Open Championship in July, Beem, from Austin, Texas, is a big fan of links golf. “I just love playing links golf. My partner and I loved it last year and we said ‘let's do it again' and then he couldn't make it, so I called John Tyson who played in our group last year and told him that my partner had bailed on me and asked if he wanted to be mine and he said ‘sure'. So right now our friend back home is a little upset that we are both doing so well.”

Beem said a new putter was one of the secrets of his success at Carnoustie. “In the middle of the year my putting was just killing me. Out of the 203 guys they rank on the US PGA Tour I was 201st so right after the Open, at my wife's suggestion, I went to a completely different putter and it just clicked. I didn't even bring the old putter back home with me. It's actually sitting in a pub in St Andrews - the Castle Pub - in two pieces.”

Ryder Cup player Howell, who won his second European Tour title in August with victory in the BMW International Open and was joint leading points scorer in the Seve Trophy the week before the dunhill links, set his round on fire when he holed a five iron for an eagle two on the 394 yards, 7th hole at Carnoustie, his 16th hole after starting at the 10th. He then followed it up with a birdie at his final hole. He said: “It's funny how things work out. I played nicely but didn't hole anything, then I holed the five iron and it turned into a great day. I guess it was a lesson in patience. When things weren't going to plan earlier on, I still had the feeling that if I just kept plugging away then I could have a bit of excitement.”

Tadini, who returned to the European Tour this year after finishing second on the 2004 Challenge Tour, was devastated last month by the death of his Argentinian caddie Nester Stiles in a car crash en route to the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. They had been together for two years and Tadini said: “Nestor was a friend as well as a caddie. I was devastated.”
Tadini, who won the Costa Rica Open last year, produced a blistering finish at Carnoustie with a five under par 31 for the final nine holes, which included six birdies. He said: “I putted beautifully today. I am very pleased as my last visit, and only previous visit, to Carnoustie was in the Amateur Championship 12 years ago.”

Scotland's leading contender is currently former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance, playing with his son Daniel, who gave the home galleries at St Andrews something to cheer about with his 68. He said: “It is just down to hard work and swinging well. The swing has been good for a while and once you've got it in the slot, you're comfortable and you're not scared of any shots. Competing on the Seniors Tour has helped as well and winning is obviously a confidence booster. It gives me a buzz to be in the thick of competition.”

In the team competition, South African sports sponsorship and event management executive Brand de Villiers joined up with professional and fellow countryman Des Terblanche to take a one shot lead, at eleven under par, over three other teams – Rich Beem and John Tyson, Christian Cévaër and Allan Taylor and Bradley Dredge and Eric Gleacher.

Hollywood actor Michael Douglas, who, with his partner Scotland's Colin Montgomerie was on four under par after his round at Carnoustie said: “It was a joy to play with Colin for the first time and to wonder at the effortless way that he hits the ball 60-80 yards past mine off every tee. It was a good day on a great course, but I'm afraid my own golf was not what I dreamt about last night.”

Australian cricket legend Steve Waugh, on five under par with Nick O'Hern, admitted that he found the experience nerve-racking. “It is a privilege to be invited to play in this event and especially to be placed in such a fantastic fourball – Nick O'Hern, my partner, and also Ian Botham and Ian Woosnam, but I must say that I found today very nerve-racking, as well as enjoyable, because it would have been hard enough without all the spectators and the TV coverage. I have played a lot of international cricket but I have never been as nervous as today. There was so much happening, in terms of playing Carnoustie for the first time and making sure my etiquette was right, but I'm sure I will relax a bit more tomorrow.”

British supermodel Jodie Kidd and South African professional David Frost had a three over par first round team score of 75 at Carnoustie, but the highlight of her round was a birdie at the par three 16th, for a net eagle. She said: “I didn't play very well. I've just come back from honeymoon and I haven't been playing much golf recently. This was a long way short of what I can do. David and I didn't really slot in together as a team, we had our bad holes at the same time.”

CARNOUSTIE

67 Rich Beem (USA), David Howell, Alessandro Tadini (Ita)

68 Paul Casey, Nick Dougherty, Brett Rumford (Aus), Brian Davis, Darren Clarke, Nick O'Hern (Aus)

69 Simon Dyson, Eduardo Romero (Arg), Henrik Stenson (Swe), Graeme McDowell

70 James Kingston (Rsa), Mark Foster, Niclas Fasth (Swe), Richard Green (Aus), Andrew Coltart, Padraig Harrington, Mark Roe, Colin Montgomerie, Ian Woosnam

71 Gary Emerson, Miles Tunnicliff, John Bickerton, Gary Murphy, Edward Loar (USA), Scott Drummond, Darren Fichardt (Rsa), Pierre Fulke (Swe), Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood

72 Simon Yates, Damien McGrane, Soren Hansen (Den), Titch Moore (Rsa,), Jean Van de Velde (Fra), Stephen Dodd, Gary Orr

73 Raymond Russell, Alastair Forsyth, Chris Williams, Steve Webster

74 Peter O'Malley (Aus), Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Stephen Gallacher, Paul McGinley

75 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Lee Slattery, Joakim Haeggman (Swe)

76 Gareth Paddison (Nzl), David Frost (Rsa), Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra)

77 Andrew McLardy (Rsa)

78 Gregory Hanrahan (USA)

84 Mikael Lundberg (Swe)

KINGSBARNS

68 Kenneth Ferrie, Bradley Dredge, Keith Horne (Rsa)

69 Warren Abery (Rsa), Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Simon Khan, Anthony Wall

70 Phillip Archer, David Griffiths, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), David Park, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Joakim Backstrom (Swe), Richard Bland

71 Henrik Nystrom (Swe), Santiago Luna (Spa), Roger Chapman, Matthew King, Oliver Wilson, Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Marten Olander (Swe), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Jose-Filipe Lima (Por)

72 Gordon Brand Jnr, Emanuele Canonica (Ita), Marcel Siem (Ger), Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Stuart Manley, Mahal Pearce (Nzl)

73 Marcus Fraser (Aus), Martin Doyle (Aus), Garry Houston, David Lynn, Peter Hanson (Swe), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Steven O'Hara, Peter Gustafsson (Swe), Amandeep Johl (Ind), Stephen Scahill (Nzl), Johan Axgren (Swe)

74 Mattias Eliasson (Swe), Brad Kennedy (Aus), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Ben Mason, David Bransdon (Aus), Matthew Richardson, Mikko Ilonen (Fin)

75 Paul Eales, Adam Groom (Aus), Marc Cayeux (Zim), Martin Maritz (Rsa)

76 Christopher Hanell (Swe), Fredrik Henge (Swe)

77 Leif Westerberg (Swe)

78 Fulton Allem (Rsa)

ST ANDREWS

68 Sam Torrance

69 Peter Baker, Christian Cevaer (Fra), Anders Hansen (Den), Philip Golding, Francesco Molinari (Ita)

70 Carlos Rodiles (Spa), Paul Broadhurst, Peter Hedblom (Swe), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Simon Wakefield, Andrew Marshall, Robert Karlsson (Swe), Patrik Sjoland (Swe)

71 Thomas Aiken (Rsa), Mark Murless (Rsa), Wade Ormsby (Aus), Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Des Terblanche (Rsa)

72 Jamie Donaldson, David Carter, Barry Lane, Jonathan Lomas, Miguel Angel Martin (Spa), Markus Brier (Aut)

73 Peter Senior (Aus), Graeme Storm, Ian Garbutt, Sandy Lyle, Sam Little, Johan Skold (Swe)

74 Tony Johnstone (Zim), Richard Sterne (Rsa), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa), Eric Ramsay, Richard Finch

75 Andrew Oldcorn, Sven Struver (Ger), Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Rolf Muntz (Ned), Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned)

76 Peter Fowler (Aus), Paul Lawrie, Costantino Rocca (Ita), Klas Eriksson (Swe), Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe), Neil Cheetham, Stuart Little 77 Malcolm Mackenzie

78 Jason Knutzon (USA)

79 Gregory Havret (Fra), Lee Williams (USA), Robert Coles

Leading teams:

61 Des Terblance and Brand De Villiers

62 Christian Cevaer and Allan Taylor, Bradley Dredge and Eric Gleacher, Rich Beem and John Tyson

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