Costa del Sol Golf

Seven days after his agony at Wentworth it was ecstasy for Luke Donald as he ended four years without a win at the Madrid Masters.

And that makes it an incredible four English players in the world’s top nine just nine years after Lee Westwood was the only one in the top 100.

Donald, who blew the BMW PGA Championship by taking a double bogey seven on the penultimate hole, this time grabbed a brilliant eagle to settle his duel with Welshman .

Level with three to play the 32-year-old hit a 252-yard fairway wood to 12 feet on the long 16th and with his third eagle of the week - “it’s because I’m a big-hitter” he joked - struck the decisive blow.

Davies, already a winner in this his first full season on the European Tour, birdied the hole and still had a chance to force sudden death, but his 20-foot effort on the last was never on the right line.

The victory lifts Donald from 13th to ninth in the world - and to fourth place in the Ryder Cup points race, knocking Padraig Harrington out of the top nine who will earn automatic spots at the end of August.

His last victory was the Honda Classic in America in March 2006 and his last in Europe came in Switzerland in September 2004.

Donald won with a closing 67 to Davies’s 68 and with a 21 under par total of 267. It earned him £214,242, but he said: “The money is secondary.

“It’s been a while since I won and to put last week behind me makes me very proud.

“The way I played today means a lot to me. The eagle was huge because Rhys put a lot of pressure on me.

“It’s happiness and relief - definitely some relief.”

After last year’s Open, where he came fifth, an American writer coined the term “Luke Donald Disease”, pointing to him as the perfect example of a bunch of British players who earn a lot but do not win very often.

“It was a bad article - it’s wrong,” commented Donald. “I don’t listen to my critics too much, but it was frustrating for myself not having won for four years.”

He can now point to the fact that England has as many players in the top 10 - himself, Westwood, Ian Poulter and Paul Casey - as America does.

And there is also Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy there too.

Davies, 25 last Friday, would have leapt into the top 50 with victory, but he is climbing fast and he will hope to go one better at this coming week’s Wales Open at Celtic Manor.

“I didn’t make a bogey in the final group in a big tournament,” Davies said. “It didn’t quite come off, but I’ve got lots to be pleased about.

“I was chasing the win and I just came up short unfortunately. On the 16th I thought I might keep the momentum (he had just birdied the 15th to level), but he threw in an eagle to be fair to him.”

Italian Francesco Molinari had also eagled the 16th to be in the joint lead, but that was before Donald and Davies played the hole and he finished third on 18 under.

A further shot back in fourth was Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, whose 65 was one outside the course record equalled earlier in the day by Spaniard Jose Manuel Lara.

Collated final round scores & totals in the European Tour Madrid Masters, Real Sociedad Hipica Espanola Club de Campo, Madrid, Spain

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

267 Luke Donald 65 67 68 67

268 Rhys Davies 65 68 67 68

270 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 67 70 65 68

271 Graeme McDowell 68 68 70 65

273 Robert Rock 70 68 67 68

275 Stephen Gallacher 69 73 66 67, Jamie Donaldson 65 70 70 70, Peter Lawrie 71 69 68 67

276 Oliver Wilson 70 71 70 65

277 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 71 71 67 68, Brett Rumford (Aus) 67 71 71 68, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 71 72 65 69, Simon Dyson 70 69 70 68, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 70 64 74, Gregory Havret (Fra) 68 74 69 66

278 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 67 70 70 71, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 67 71 70 70, Richard Finch 68 71 69 70, Julien Quesne (Fra) 72 69 71 66, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 69 70 68 71

279 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 73 68 68 70, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 68 73 68 70, Nick Dougherty 69 70 70 70, Markus Brier (Aut) 68 75 68 68, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 68 73 70 68, Graeme Storm 73 64 67 75, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 70 72 73 64

280 Gary Orr 73 67 71 69, Joost Luiten (Ned) 70 69 74 67, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 71 70 71 68, David Lynn 72 70 68 70, Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 73 67 70 70, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 71 67 72 70, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 68 70 72 70, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 71 70 70 69

281 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 75 67 71 68, Damien McGrane 69 73 67 72, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 69 70 70 72, Alastair Forsyth 74 69 71 67, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 72 71 69 69

282 Peter Whiteford 73 70 66 73, Shane Lowry 69 74 70 69, Santiago Luna (Spa) 69 71 74 68, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 69 72 69 72, Paul McGinley 66 74 70 72, Johan Edfors (Swe) 67 73 71 71

283 Richard Green (Aus) 71 67 74 71, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 70 71 69 73, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 72 71 71 69

284 Carl Suneson (Spa) 69 73 71 71, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 68 74 72 70

285 Danny Lee (Nzl) 69 74 68 74, Gary Boyd 73 68 74 70, Phillip Price 67 74 71 73, Tano Goya (Arg) 69 72 67 77, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 75 67 67 76, Oliver Fisher 70 72 73 70, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 70 72 74 69, Ross McGowan 68 74 74 69

286 Gary Clark 71 71 73 71, Sion E Bebb 70 71 72 73, Bradley Dredge 67 73 72 74

287 John Parry 72 70 73 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 66 76 73 72

288 Sam Hutsby 73 69 70 76, Paul Lawrie 73 70 69 76

289 James Kingston (Rsa) 68 71 76 74

290 Julien Guerrier (Fra) 68 74 71 77, James Morrison 70 70 76 74

291 Jorge Campillo (Spa) 72 70 75 74

292 Alvaro Salto (Spa) 74 68 72 78, David Drysdale 69 74 74 75, Stephen Dodd 69 74 75 74

294 Kenneth Ferrie 73 70 70 81

295 Marc Warren 70 71 81 73, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 72 71 78 74

296 Marcel Siem (Ger) 72 71 76 77

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South African Louis Oosthuizen has given himself yet another chance to win his first European Tour title - and with it a place in The Masters.

Runner-up to Welshman Rhys Davies in Morocco last week after leading by three with 15 holes to play, Oosthuizen takes a one-shot advantage over England’s Robert Coles into the final day of the Andalucian Open at Parador Golf in Malaga, Spain.

Only a victory will probably do for the 27-year-old in his bid for a second successive trip to Augusta and a four under par 66 kept him on course.

Oosthuizen, four times second on the circuit but five times a winner in his home country, now stands 14 under and said: “My putting has not let me down, but I’m not happy with how I hit a few irons shots.

“It’s a low-scoring course, but the thing is you can try and attack it too much and make stupid bogeys. I made a few today.”

Coles, a 37-year-old West Ham fan from Essex, has been on and off the Tour since his debut in 1995, making 10 trips to the qualifying school and never finishing higher than third in an event.

His 63 was his lowest round in 267 tournaments and lifted him from ninth to second while fellow Englishman Sam Hutsby, the joint overnight leader, dropped back to joint fifth on 10 under with a level par 70.

Coles lost his father in January, but with wife Sinead expecting their second child shortly he is enjoying being back on Tour.

His last full season was 2006, but after failing on his last three visits to the qualifying school he graduated from the Challenge Tour at the end of last year.

“There have been lots of times when I thought I might not have another chance,” he said.

“I had three years on the Challenge Tour and each time I thought, ‘Am I doing the right thing?’, but getting my card back justifies the effort.”

He started for home with five successive birdies to climb into the hunt, chipped in to stay par at the 16th and finished with another birdie. Having holed from off the green at the 11th as well, his round contained a mere 20 putts.

The former Petticoat Lane market stall worker would be a surprise winner, but not as much as the player in third place.

Spaniard Gabriel Canizares, who on Friday had the first albatross of the Tour season, is only two behind on 12 under following a 65.

He is the son of former Ryder Cup player Jose Maria, but stands 1,362nd in the world - joint last with no points to his name - and does not even have a Tour card at the moment.

Hutsby, a 21-year-old rookie from Hampshire, had a ding-dong battle with Oosthuizen over the first 10 holes, making up for three bogeys with five birdies to remain joint leader.

But he played the last eight holes in two over compared to the South African’s two under.

That left fellow Englishman Richard Finch in fourth on 11 under and Hutsby one further back alongside Scot Peter Whiteford and Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen.

For more information about Parador Golf and golf holidays on the Costa del Sol Golf visit -
www.costadelsolgolf-web.com

Collated third-round scores (GB & Irl unless stated, par 70):

196 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 67 63 66

197 Robert Coles 69 65 63

198 Gabriel Canizares (Spa) 69 64 65

199 Richard Finch 68 65 66

200 Sam Hutsby 67 63 70, Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 68 65 67, Peter Whiteford 69 64 67

201 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 65 67 69, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 68 65, Paul Lawrie 65 68 68, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 68 66 67

202 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 71 66 65, Gary Orr 68 68 66, Stephen Gallacher 67 70 65, Thomas Levet (Fra) 69 70 63

203 Joost Luiten (Ned) 66 69 68, Jamie Donaldson 67 69 67, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 68 70 65

204 Mark Brown (Nzl) 66 68 70, James Morrison 71 63 70, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 72 64 68

205 Richard Bland 68 68 69, Steve Webster 71 66 68, John Parry 68 69 68, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 68 67 70, Paul Waring 74 62 69, Gareth Maybin 70 67 68, David Howell 69 69 67, Mark F Haastrup (Den) 69 68 68, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 72 65 68, Ariel Canete (Arg) 68 68 69

206 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 68 68 70, Stephen Dodd 73 66 67, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 66 69 71, David Lynn 67 70 69, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 71 67 68

207 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 66 71 70, David Drysdale 71 68 68, Santiago Luna (Spa) 73 64 70, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 66 73 68, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 70 69 68, Bradley Dredge 66 70 71

208 Gary Lockerbie 69 67 72, Dale Whitnell 68 70 70, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 69 68 71, Paul McGinley 68 66 74, Michael Hoey 69 69 70, Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 67 68, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 71 68

209 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 69 69 71, Marco Ruiz (Par) 70 67 72, Richie Ramsay 73 67 69, Stephan Gross Jnr (Ger) 70 68 71, Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 72 67 70, Simon Thornton 69 70 70

210 Marc Warren 71 68 71, Phillip Archer 66 74 70, Alastair Forsyth 71 69 70, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 67 71 72, Darren Clarke 70 68 72

211 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 70 69 72, Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 68 72 71, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 71 68 72, Phillip Price 72 68 71, Danny Willett 74 66 71, Peter Lawrie 68 72 71

212 Jamie Elson 70 68 74, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 70 69 73, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 71 69 72

213 Anthony Wall 68 69 76, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 67 71 75, Alexander Noren (Swe) 69 71 73, Andrew Oldcorn 71 69 73, Shane Lowry 72 67 74, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 71 67 75, Barry Lane 70 70 73

214 Nick Dougherty 72 68 74

215 Andrew Tampion (Aus) 70 70 75, Gary Murphy 69 71 75, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 71 68 76

216 Robert Rock 69 71 76

217 Julien Quesne (Fra) 71 69 77

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Welshman Rhys Davies captured his first European Tour title with a brilliant final-round display in Morocco.

The 24-year-old former Walker Cup amateur - he was a team-mate of Rory McIlroy in 2007 - lifted the Hassan Trophy by two shots after a closing seven under par 66 at Royal Dar Es Salam.

Davies trailed South African Louis Oosthuizen by three with 15 holes to play, but birdied eight of the next 11 and took the £207,666 first prize with a 25 under total of 266.

For Oosthuizen it was a fourth runners-up finish on the circuit, while Frenchman Thomas Levet, Spaniard Ignacio Garrido, Finn Mikko Ilonen and another South African Thomas Aiken shared third place five strokes further back.

Davies, British boy champion seven years ago, said: “I’m a little bit lost at the moment - this is all completely surreal to me.

“I didn’t really think very much out there. It was all a bit of a blur.”

Told about his eight birdies from the fourth to the 14th the Bridgend golfer, who will move into the world’s top 100 as a result, added: “I didn’t know I did that.

“I just felt I could make every putt and felt in control of my swing. That was the best I’ve hit it all week.”

Davies finished third in his last tournament in Malaysia and will be watched closely now in the year when his home country stages the Ryder Cup for the first time.

“That’s way out of my equation at the moment. This is the first win, hopefully the first of a few, and it’s really special.”

He did not even have a card on the circuit or the second tier Challenge Tour a year ago, having twice failed to come through the Tour qualifying school.

But winning a Challenge Tour in Wales to which he had received an invitation changed everything. Davies then won again to finish fourth on their money list and earn promotion without the need to go back to the school.

Now he can plan his schedule for the rest of this year and next season.

A bogey on the short second left him an uphill task, but walking off the 11th green he had turned that into a one-shot lead.

It was already pretty much a two-man fight by then and Oosthuizen’s eagle on the next took him back in front. But Davies rolled in a 22-footer at the 13th and went two ahead when he birdied again on the 206-yard 14th and Oosthuizen bogeyed from the sand.

Victory might have taken Oosterhuizen back into the world’s top 50 a week before invitations to The Masters are handed out, but he will now have to try for that again when the Tour reaches European soil at last in Malaga this coming week.

Collated final round scores from the European Tour’s Trophee Hassan II at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat, Morocco (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 73):

266 Rhys Davies 68 64 68 66

268 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 70 64 64 70

273 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 67 68 67 71, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 71 69 67 66, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 67 67 69 70, Thomas Levet (Fra) 69 65 68 71

275 Robert Rock 71 67 67 70, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 71 68 70 66, Danny Willett 73 67 64 71

276 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 66 70 70 70, Gareth Maybin 72 69 66 69, Peter Lawrie 66 70 73 67

277 Thomas Bjorn (Den) 72 68 70 67

279 Joost Luiten (Ned) 70 65 73 71

280 Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 73 67 70 70, Robert Coles 72 65 73 70, David Lynn 69 71 70 70, Gregory Havret (Fra) 70 67 71 72

281 Richard Bland 69 73 68 71, David Howell 70 70 73 68, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 68 68 71 74, Anthony Kang (USA) 70 69 72 70, Anthony Wall 69 73 69 70, Gary Boyd 71 72 70 68, Stephen Gallacher 66 72 71 72, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 68 72 71 70

282 Marco Ruiz (Par) 74 69 70 69, Sam Little 67 69 72 74

283 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 66 75 71 71, David Drysdale 71 70 70 72, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 66 74 71 72, Julien Clement (Swi) 69 71 72 71, David Horsey 67 71 75 70

284 Peter Whiteford 72 70 69 73, Nick Dougherty 66 69 72 77, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 72 69 68 75, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 70 67 73 74, Paul Broadhurst 74 68 70 72

285 John Parry 74 68 72 71, Stephen Dodd 70 70 71 74, Pablo Martin (Spa) 69 73 73 70, Barry Lane 74 68 69 74

286 Niclas Fasth (Swe) 68 71 73 74, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 75 66 71 74, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 67 73 73 73, Julien Quesne (Fra) 72 65 74 75, Darren Clarke 69 72 72 73,Graeme Storm 73 69 71 73

287 Steve Webster 72 68 71 76, Azuma Yano (Jpn) 70 68 75 74, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 73 68 73 73

288 Shiv Kapur (Ind) 67 73 74 74, Tano Goya (Arg) 74 68 74 72

289 Andrew Butterfield 71 69 73 76, Jamie Donaldson 73 70 74 72

290 Faycal Serghini (Mor) 73 68 74 75, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 71 71 74 74, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 67 72 74 77, Mark Brown (Nzl) 69 73 73 75, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 69 73 73 75

291 Simon Khan 72 71 76 72

292 Younes El Hassani (Mor) 71 72 74 75

293 Gary Lockerbie 74 69 73 77

294 Jhared Hack (USA) 71 68 76 79

297 Peter Baker 73 69 76 79

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Britain’s Rhys Davies fired a course record-equalling 64 to move two strokes clear of the field after the Hassan II Trophy second round.

His eight-under-par effort on the Blue Course at the Dar Es Salam complex was matched by South African Louis Oosthuizen, who crammed nine birdies in his 64 to finish in a share of second place.

The 24-year-old Davies reeled off eight birdies to compile a 13-under total of 132, two ahead of Oosthuizen, Frenchman Thomas Levet (65) and Spain’s Ignacio Garrido (67).

Welshman Davies is back on the European Tour after qualifying from the second-tier Challenge Tour last year and he finished joint third at the Malaysian Open earlier this month.

“I’m feeling comfortable and enjoying being on the main tour,” Davies said. “I enjoy playing golf and I enjoy playing against the best players, so it’s great to be out here.

“Compared to this time last year it’s very different. I didn’t have any kind of status in Europe on either the Challenge Tour or main tour.”

Oosthuizen said the Blue Course was easier than the Red layout he played a day earlier.

“I hit some wayward iron shots today but otherwise it was pretty good,” he said. “I putted nicely and basically I am trying to work on my consistency.”

Briton Nick Dougherty, who led after a first-round 66, carded a 69 to finish in a tie for fifth place.

Among those to miss the halfway cut was South African Open champion Richie Ramsay of Britain and Ireland’s Paul McGinley, who was making his comeback from a five-month lay-off after undergoing a sixth operation on his left knee.

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Rising Welsh star Rhys Davies remained on course for a maiden career title at the Maybank Malaysian Open after earning a share of a one shot lead alongside Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat at the top of a tightly congested third round leaderboard.

Challenge Tour graduate Davies, 24, carded a one-under-par 71 to join fast finishing 20-year-old Kiradech, who birdied three of his final four holes of a 68, at 11-under-par following another humid energy-sapping day at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club.

Veteran trio KJ Choi (69), Soren Hansen (69) and in-form Asian number one Thongchai Jaidee (69) head the chasing pack alongside 18-year-old South Korean Noh Seung-yul (67) with Alejandro Canizares (71) and Johan Edfors (69) just a shot further adrift and Ignacio Garrido (71) rounding out the tight top 10 at eight under.

“It’s good pressure to be up there. If I shoot the best score tomorrow then I win, that’s a good thing,” said world number 135 Davies.

“There are a number of great players up there so it is up to me to worry about my own game and try not to worry about them. If I score lower than them then I will come out on top.”

Joint first round leader Davies earlier completed a three-under-par second round following yesterday’s lighting delay to lead by two shots at the halfway mark, but slipped off the pace after shipping a double-bogey at the start of his back nine after hitting his tee shot into water.

But the two-time Challenge Tour winner earned a share of the lead to keep his bid for a wire-to-wire victory alive with a 30 foot birdie putt at the 17th.

And Davies, who actually cut his teeth on the Asian Tour in 2008 with three top 10 finishes before claiming second at the Thailand Open last year, missed out on claiming the outright lead as an eight foot effort at the last lipped out.

“My temperament has been good all week and I have listened to my mind and body to stay on top of things,” added a weary Davies, who played 25 holes today and consumed around 15 litres of water.

“I drove the ball well which is a big plus for me. I usually putt well and I did putt well. Not many went in, but I did hit a lot of them on line.”

World number 231 Kiradech capped his storming finish with a 10 foot conversion at the last and will look to build on the experience after holding a two-shot lead after the third round of the Asian Tour’s season-opening Asian Tour International last month before missing out on a maiden title following three top 10s last year.

“My driving was better, my ball striking has been improving these past three days and that has played a part in my good performance,” said Kiradech, who also led heading into the final round at the Selangor Masters last August.

“I need to build on my experiences and hope it will be better than my last two attempts.”

World number 96 Choi, who claimed his last title at the Johor Open in Malaysia last October, missed out on a chance to share the overnight lead after missing from eight feet at the last following a superb approach from a fairway bunker.

“I have put myself in position, I like where I am,” said the 39-year-old South Korean. “Yesterday and today I just sweated so much I feel weary. I just need to overcome the heat for one more day and try to close it out.

“I have a good rhythm going and knew to maintain that, but there are a lot of players crammed up there and it’s anybody’s game.”

Collated third round scores & totals

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, Par 72):

205 Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 68 69 68, Rhys Davies 65 69 71

206 Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 69 70 67, Soren Hansen (Den) 70 67 69, K J Choi (Kor) 67 70 69, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 66 71 69

207 Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 67 69 71, Johan Edfors (Swe) 69 69 69

208 Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 65 72 71

209 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 71 70 68, Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 68 75 66, Scott Barr (Aus) 68 71 70, Dae-hyun Kim (Kor) 66 73 70, Angelo Que (Phi) 70 67 72, Danny Willett 72 69 68

210 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 77 65 68

211 Ashan Wu (Chn) 73 70 68

212 Daniel Chopra (Swe) 71 70 71, Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 74 70 68, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 69 73 70, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 70 72 70, Peter Lawrie 69 72 71, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 73 71 68, Jason Knutzon (USA) 73 67 72

213 Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 72 71 70, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 69 72 72, Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 76 69 68

214 Scott Strange (Aus) 69 73 72, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 68 74 72, Mark Brown (Nzl) 71 71 72, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 67 74 73, Brett Rumford (Aus) 71 67 76, Gary Boyd 72 71 71, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 68 74 72, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 69 70 75, Hyung-sung Kim (Kor) 70 74 70, Matthew Griffin (Aus) 72 69 73

215 Robert Rock 68 75 72, Darren Beck (Aus) 69 75 71, Mars Pucay (Phi) 75 70 70, Mark Foster 67 77 71, Guido Van Der Valk (Ned) 72 72 71, Gregory Havret (Fra) 71 72 72

216 M Sasidaran (Mal) 69 73 74, David Gleeson (Aus) 71 73 72, Joost Luiten (Ned) 72 73 71, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 72 72 72, Steven O’Hara 74 71 71, Paul Broadhurst 75 68 73, Anthony Kang (USA) 73 71 72, Anthony Wall 74 71 71, Marco Ruiz (Par) 71 71 74, Stephen Gallacher 72 69 75, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 72 69 75, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 75 70 71

217 Andrew Dodt (Aus) 72 71 74, Chih-bing Lam (Sin) 72 70 75, Mark Purser (Nzl) 74 71 72, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 74 70 73, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 69 74 74, C Muniyappa (Ind) 73 72 72, Antonio Lascuna (Phi) 72 72 73, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 70 72 75

218 Chris Rodgers 70 75 73, Wen Teh Lu (Tpe) 69 76 73, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 73 71 74, Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn) 72 71 75

219 Mark f Haastrup (Den) 67 77 75, Markus Brier (Aut) 70 73 76, Unho Park (Aus) 70 73 76, Digvijay Singh (Ind) 69 75 75

220 David Horsey 72 72 76, Danny Chia (Mal) 71 71 78

221 Julien Quesne (Fra) 74 71 76, Simon Khan 71 74 76, Ross Bain 68 77 76

223 Tony Carolan (Aus) 73 72 78, James Kamte (Rsa) 74 71 78

226 Scott Hend (Aus) 73 72 81

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Challenge Tour graduate Rhys Davies sparkled on the opening day at the Maybank Malaysian Open to share a one-shot first-round lead with Spain’s Ignacio Garrido.

The 24-year-old Davies, still buzzing after matching his career-high finish on the European Tour by claiming sixth in Abu Dhabi at the start of the year, blazed a flawless seven-under-par 65 at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club.

A hot and admittedly sometimes lucky putter helped 1997 Ryder Cup winner Garrido share the clubhouse lead over in-form Asian number one Thongchai Jaidee and South Korea’s Kim Dae-hyun after the Spaniard dropped just one shot in energy-sapping humidity.

“I have had two weeks off since India (European Tour Avantha Masters) so you don’t know how you are going to come back after that. I had a decent showing in the Middle East before India and I think that was important for me,” said Davies.

“I had a couple of good scores in Abu Dhabi and I fed off that. That is the key for me, when I start to make some birdies I want to take advantage of the fact I am playing well in that moment and really push on and make as many as possible.”

And Davies, who finished 35th at the Avantha Masters, certainly made his fair share of birdies during his first round with five gains on the scoring-friendly front nine which included a hat-trick of birdies sparked by a putt from off the green at the par-five fifth.

He started the tougher back nine with a sixth birdie of the day, but did have to wait until the 17th for his next to join Garrido in a share of the clubhouse lead which remained unchallenged.

“I didn’t actually have the best warm-up so I wasn’t striking the ball as well as I would have liked so I tried not to think about it. I think the fact that I made a few birdies early on was important for me and I just pushed on from there,” added Davies.

“I hit a few good shots early on and had birdie chances on six of the first seven holes and managed to make most of them so that was great.”

Davies actually cut his teeth on the Asian Tour in 2008 with three top-10 finishes and, after claiming second at the Thailand Open last year, posted two wins on the Challenge Tour to finish fourth on the Order of Merit and to earn his card despite playing the fewest events of the top 20.

“Playing a lot in Asia before has helped a little bit. It is really hot and very demanding, but you just have to tell yourself that it is the same for everyone,” he said.

“Even the local players are finding it tough. It is something everyone has got to deal with and it’s not as though I dread it, I feel fairly comfortable.”

WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship quarter-finalist Thongchai wobbled down the stretch with a pair of late bogeys to share second alongside Kim, who picked up five shots over his final five holes.

KJ Choi dropped his only shot of the day at the last to card a five-under-par 67 alongside Spain’s Alejandro Canizares, Dane Mark Haastrup and England’s Mark Foster with all of the top eight having started in the morning.

Of the afternoon starters, only a resurgent Thomas Bjorn, fresh from top-15 finishes in his last two events, made an impact on the leaderboard to join a large contingent rounding out the top 10 at four under, although 30 players will have to complete their first rounds on Friday after a thunderstorm brought a premature end to play.

Latest first-round scores (Gbr & Irl unless stated, Par 72). Note: Please note that first round play suspended for thunder and lightning. There are 10 matches still to finish on Friday morning, starting

07.45hrs local time:

65 Rhys Davies, Ignacio Garrido (Spa)

66 Dae-hyun Kim (Kor), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)

67 Mark f Haastrup (Den), K J Choi (Kor), Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Mark Foster

68 Rahil Gangjee (Ind), Robert Rock, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha), Scott Barr (Aus), Thomas Bjorn (Den), Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel), Ross Bain

69 M Sasidaran (Mal), Seung-yul Noh (Kor), Darren Beck (Aus), Scott Strange (Aus), Peter Lawrie, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Wen Teh Lu (Tpe), Johan Edfors (Swe), Niclas Fasth (Swe), Sang-moon Bae (Kor), Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Digvijay Singh (Ind)

70 Soren Hansen (Den), Unho Park (Aus), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), George Coetzee (Rsa), Markus Brier (Aut), Angelo Que (Phi), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Hyung-sung Kim (Kor)

71 Ben Leong (Mal), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Mark Brown (Nzl), Brett Rumford (Aus), Daniel Chopra (Swe), Marco Ruiz (Par), Danny Chia (Mal), Gregory Havret (Fra)

72 Anis Hassan (Mal), Steven Jeppesen (Swe), Danny Willett, Simon Yates, Simon Griffiths, Gary Boyd, Prom Meesawat (Tha), Michael Jonzon (Swe), Wen-Tang Lin (Tpe), David Horsey, Andrew Dodt (Aus), Chih-bing Lam (Sin), Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn), David Drysdale, Arjun Atwal (Ind), Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind), Guido Van Der Valk (Ned)

73 Peter Whiteford, Martin Erlandsson (Swe), Robert Coles, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Darren Clarke, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn), Jason Knutzon (USA), Anthony Kang (USA), Tony Carolan (Aus), Scott Hend (Aus), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Ashan Wu (Chn), C Muniyappa (Ind), Phillip Archer, Ted Oh (Kor)

74 Yin-shin Chan (Tpe), Wei Chih Lu (Tha), Andrew Butterfield, Michael Campbell (Nzl), Sung Lee (Pkr), Julien Quesne (Fra), Mardan Mamat (Sin), Jamie Elson, Anthony Wall, Thammanoon Srirot (Tha), James Kamte (Rsa), Wen-hong Lin (Chn), Adam Blyth (Aus)

75 Andrew Tampion (Aus), Chris Wood, Shaaban Hussin (Mal), Mars Pucay (Phi), Paul Broadhurst, Carl Suneson (Spa), Periasamy Gunasagaran (Mal), Rick Kulacz (Aus), Gavin kyle Green (Mal), Keith Horne (Rsa), Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Airil-Rizman Zahari (Mal), Anirban Lahiri (Ind)

76 Inn-choon Hwang (Kor), S Sivachandran (Mal), Andrew Coltart, Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn), Rashid Ismail Md (Mal), Danny Lee (Nzl), Mohd Iszaimi Ismail (Mal), Jbe Kruger (Rsa), Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Jpn), Mohd Shukree Othman (Mal), Sam Little, Shingo Katayama (Jpn)

77 Kwanchai Tannin (Hkg), Clodomiro Carranza (Arg), Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor), Mohd Hisyam Abdul Majid (Mal), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Gavin Flint (Aus), Joong Kyung Mo (Kor), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)

78 Iain Steel (Mal)

79 Marcus Both (Aus), David Howell

80 Rafael Echenique (Arg)

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