Mixed bag for Brits in first round

Ever since Gary Player said in February that "Nick Faldo can't play at all now" the British star has been desperate to show that he can.

But when the Masters resumed at Augusta today Faldo was lying joint 90th out of 96 - one worse than 63-year-old Player, level with 67-year-old Gay Brewer and with three of the five players behind him being 69-year-old Arnold Palmer, 67-year-old Billy Casper and 76-year-old Doug Ford.

An opening eight over par represented the three-time champion's second worst round in the event and now a third successive missed cut since his 1996 triumph stares him in the face.

Yet in the week he fell outside the world's top 100 the 41-year-old insists that his game is almost where he wants it.

"It's the same old story," Faldo said before heading for the practice range just as thunder forced the first round to be suspended.

"I'm close, but not close enough and that's the bottom line.

"I hit two bad drives and three irons were off line for 80.

"Practice went great, but it keeps hitting me. I paid for every minute mistake. I couldn't get up and down."

Americans Davis Love, Scott McCarron and Brandel Chamblee lead after three under par rounds of 69, but Nick Price was among 12 players unable to finish last night and if he birdied the 18th at 9am today (2pm in Britain) he would have top spot on his own on 68.

Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal are in the group only one behind and Ian Woosnam and Sandy Lyle - remember him? - are just two back.

Meanwhile, Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke, one trying to fight off flu symptoms since Tuesday and the other suffering back pains like Woosnam, managed only 75s.

As for favourites David Duval and Tiger Woods, they have already had eventful times.

Duval was three under after nine and joint leader, then had three successive bogeys, then birdied the 17th just as play was called off for the day.

Woods, trying to win back the title he won two years ago in stunning fashion, ran up an eight on the long eighth before battling back with three birdies at the same holes Duval bogeyed - 12, 13 and 14 - for a level par 72.

Montgomerie's 70 was his best start in eight visits to the Masters and he is already a fan of the new rough bordering the fairways.

"It's hardly rough at all (less than one-and-a-half inches thick as opposed to the five or six inches found at US Opens), but it makes a big, big difference and is proving a factor," said the Scot, eighth last year.

"Hitting the fairways means more than ever before here and that plays into my strength.

"It's going to be the guy who makes the least mistakes who's going to win rather than the one making most birdies." His only error yesterday was three-putting the short sixth.

As he finished it was not lost on Montgomerie that his name was not on the giant leaderboard. "I'm the wrong nationality," he said sarcastically.

Woosnam, winner in 1991, had only one bogey as well and, despite a recurrence of his back trouble, was positively bubbly only four days after giving away his putter to a little boy in disgust.

"I've not swung this well for a long time," said the Welshman. "I'm excited by it. I'm more in the mood here than I have been the last few weeks."

Lyle expressed the same view, saying: "This place gets your juices going."

The 1988 champion is just glad to be in competitive action again.

Without a tournament victory for six-and-a-half years he lost his US Tour card at the end of last season and is reliant on invitations now in America - there have been just four so far this season.

The week began badly when his children Alexandra and Quintin, five and four, were involved in a car crash with their nanny near their Florida home, but thankfully they escaped unhurt.

"It was not a high speed crash and they're all right. Jolande (his wife) wanted to go home, but we've very supportive neighbours and we were told everything was fine," said Lyle.

Westwood said: "I'm not feeling great and the high humidity hasn't helped."

He was five over after 12, but birdied the 13th and 16th and added: "I'm still in it."

Clarke said: "I've never had back problems, but it went into spasm just as I was finishing practising before the round.

"I was getting shooting pains and couldn't swing at all early on."

As if that was bad enough, he had 40 putts and a penalty stroke on the third green when the ball moved as he addressed it.

"The same happened here last year," stated the Ulsterman. What also happened last year was that he overcame an opening 78 to finish tied with Montgomerie - and Woods - for eighth on his debut.