Scotland’s Gary Orr shared the spotlight with superstar Ernie Els after the first round of the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe at St.Leon Rot, Heidelberg.
Els, the two-time US Open champion, defied a blustery wind in the morning to establish a course record of 66, six under par, for the new venue. Then as the winds abated, former Rookie of the Year Orr charged in with a matching score to share the lead.
The powerful South African, now a resident on Wentworth Estate, emerged from a five week break from the game to shoot 66 and said: “I didn’t know which end of the club to hold when I came back on Tuesday.
“I’ve been playing a little bit of golf during that five week ‘hiatus’ but not much. I spent some time in Orlando, the Bahamas, South Africa and then Wentworth before I came here. I had played seven tournaments in a row up to the Masters and was fed up and over-golfed so I decided to take this break.”
It proved to be a sound move by Els, who was caught by Orr several hours later. The Scot, who has still to win on the European Tour, admitted he had been ‘plodding along’ nicely this season without ever hitting the heights.
However there was nothing of the plodder about his round which, like Els, did not contain a single bogey but did have a useful chip-in for a two at the short 13th.
Orr conceded he was happy to be up at the head of affairs alongside Els and commented: “It’s good to have these guys playing. I would like to see them play here more often. It’s good for the tournament and good for me to play against better players.”
Frenchman Jean van de Velde double bogeyed the last when he looked set to join the group on 66 and had to settle for a 68, a mark he shares with Droitwich’s John Bickertson, who birdied four holes in a row from the ninth, including a hole bunker shot at the 12th.
World No.3, Tiger Woods, without doubt the star attraction of the week in Germany, played solidly to return a 69, three under par, one better than new rising star Sergio Garcia and two in front of last week’s Benson and Hedges International Open champion Colin Montgomerie.
Woods said: “I knew that anything under par was going to be good. Under the conditions I’m pleased to shoot something under par. Ernie’s 66 is a great score. He did well to shoot such a low number in these conditions. Very impressive.”
Garcia, still only 19, had a wild day off the tee but needed just ten putts over the past nine holes for his 70, while Montgomerie missed two fairways and was punished with bogeys.
