He might have been nowhere near a golf course for five weeks, but Peter O’Malley showed no signs of rustiness at Gardagolf near Brescia, where a course record equalling 64 gave him the lead after the first round of the 60th Italian Open Telecom Italia.
In idyllic sunkissed conditions, the 37 year old Australian was in superb form, matching the eight under par effort carded by Bernhard Langer in the final round of the event in 1997 when he came from behind to win, to open up a two shot lead over Challenge Tour player Gary Clark.
Ironically, the three time winner on The European Tour International Schedule looked far from leader material when he opened up with a bogey five at the tenth hole after three putting from twenty feet.
But after that slight blip, O’Malley produced imperious form, four birdies seeing him to the ‘turn’ in 33 before his round ignited on the front nine of the Gardagolf course.
The Australian picked up six shots in five holes from the third, the highlight being an eagle three at the fifth where he holed from 12 feet after his three wood second from 264 yards out had found the centre of the green. It meant O’Malley could even afford a bogey five at his penultimate hole, the eighth, and still retain a healthy advantage.
“I didn’t practice when I was at home and in fact I went about five weeks where I didn’t play at all,” he said. “My wife’s father passed away in that time so I was just being there and supporting her really.
“I was just there for the kids which was nice, doing a bit of family stuff away from the golf. I usually have that sort of time off every year because I like to work my schedule around the kids schooling.
“However, it felt good over the weekend with my practice. Dennis (Pugh) had a look at my swing and told me there weren’t too many things to work on which is always good to hear.
“I’ve been working on my putting in the last couple of days so it was good to come out and find that the greens were putting nicely. I didn’t come out with a lot of expectations, just hoping to play well, and I did.”
Another man who opened up with an excellent round was second placed Gary Clark but the 32 year old Englishman had no one to share the joy of his six under par 66 with, as the Londoner carried his own bag for the 18 holes.
“I don’t have a regular caddie because I don’t have a full card this year so there is no point in keeping somebody hanging around,” said Clark, who played on The European Tour in 1996 and 1997 before a repetitive stress injury to his left wrist set back his career.
“Last year was the first full season back for a couple of years after the injury and to be honest it has been recurring a little bit this week,” he said. “It’s all right playing but I feel it a little bit in practice, it’s not too bad though.”
Unlike O’Malley, Clark made no mistakes in his tidy 66, his only departures from par being three birdies on the front nine and three on the back nine. “Putting made the difference today,” he added. “I holed a few putts out there and made a couple of good saves as well. When it comes down to it, these greens are so good out here that if you putt well, they’re going to go in.”
Three players shared third place after opening with respective 67s, England’s Roger Chapman, Argentina’s Ricardo Gonzalez and Fredrik Orest of Sweden. Gonzalez partnered leader O’Malley and admitted the coupling had aided his own cause.
“It helped a lot playing with Peter when he was playing so well,” said the winner of the 2001 Omega European Masters. “When he was making all the birdies, I felt like I wanted to make them too just to keep up with him!”
Amongst a large group of players who finished on four under par 68 was Pierre Fulke, one of the heroes of last year’s Ryder Cup victory at The De Vere Belfry, who was making his first competitive appearance since the Volvo Masters Andalucia last November.
Further down the leaderboard, pre-tournament favourite Colin Montgomerie opened with a two under par 70 and proclaimed himself satisfied with his first round with his new cavity-backed clubs, having switched from the blades he started the season with.
“They went fine, they did okay,” said the World Number 19. “They will remain in the bag for tomorrow anyway! Seriously though, my round was standard, didn’t play that well, but didn’t play that badly really. Steady.
“I’ll get into it a little bit more tomorrow afternoon once I relax a bit. Obviously I was a bit tense after the start I’ve made this year – I want to get going and sometimes I go too fast at times. But today was okay, it was steady, nothing wrong with that.”
