| Paris,
France, 25th June 1998 -
Scotland's Sam Torrance fired an 8-under-par 64 today and took a 2-stroke lead
after the first-round of the £500,000 Peugeot Open de France Tied
for second at 66 were Eduardo Romero of Argentina and Spain's Pedro Linhart. France's
Jean Van de Velde and England's John Bickerton shot 67s to share fourth. Colin
Montgomerie of Scotland, one of the tournament favourites, was 10 strokes back
after an opening 74 over the 7,112-yard Albatros course at the National Golf center.
The 44-year-old
Torrance, battling for an exemption into his 27th straight British Open, began
with three consecutive birdies. He had six birdies overall, including a 106-yard
wedge to eagle the par-five 14th for his best round of the year. "I
played lovely golf," Torrance said. "I need at least a top three finish
here to get an Open exemption." Torrance
is playing his 589th European Tour event, in his 28th season, a record. He
capped his round with an unlikely birdie, driving into rough, then sending his
ball onto a wooden bridge beside the 18th. "The
ball was half an inch down a crack," Torrance said. "I could have had
a double-hit. It could have gone anywhere." Torrance
hit it cleanly, and the ball cleared two mounds and ran to just over 13 feet from
the pin. He drained it for a birdie four. Montgomerie
ran into trouble on the lightning-fast greens, taking 36 putts and making only
one birdie. He
pulled his second into a hazard at the 12th, took a penalty drop and double-bogeyed.
He found water at the 17th to drop another shot. "It
was an unfortunate day," Montgomerie said. "I'm fine mentally, not suffering.
I just had an unlucky day."
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