Marc Warren tops opening round leaderboard - Johnnie Walker Championship 2007

Marc Warren, the 2006 European rookie of the year, shrugged off indifferent form to take a one-shot advantage in the Johnnie Walker Championship first round on Thursday.

The 26-year-old Scot fired an eight-under 65 to lead Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium.

It was a welcome boost for Warren, who has missed the cut 14 times in 21 starts this season, including the last two weeks at the Dutch Open and the Scandinavian Masters where he was the holder.

"Last year I won, played in the World Cup and finished fifth at the Champions Tournament (in Shanghai)," Warren told reporters.

"I wanted to kick on from that but it has just not happened."

Colsaerts finished tied second in this event two years ago but has also recently lost his way.

An eagle two at the downhill 419-yard par-four eighth, his 17th, cheered the Belgian.

India's Jeev Milkha Singh lost his clubs travelling from the U.S. but got them back late on Wednesday and responded with a 67 to share third place alongside former winner Miles Tunnicliff of Britain.

"I'd been calling the airline five times a day since Sunday," Singh told Reuters. "Luckily my clubs arrived at 9pm last night."

A late bogey meant tournament chairman Colin Montgomerie ended with a 69 but the 44-year-old Scot was unfazed.

"I'm satisfied," he said. "It was nothing to shout about but nothing to cry about.

"It was a shame about the bogey on 17 because my target is 10 under for two rounds and I now have an extra shot to make up tomorrow."

Frenchman Thomas Levet was also four under after beginning his round with a hole-in-one at the par-three 208-yard 10th on the Centenary course.

Levet is battling back from vertigo, which blighted his career at the end of last year and the beginning of this season.

"I was losing my balance about 100 times a day and there was no chance of me hitting golf balls," he said. "I was told it could take anything between six months to two years for me to get better.

"It took seven months, with similar treatment to that given to Parkinson's Disease sufferers, designed to calm down my nervous system."