FLYING START FOR RICHIE IN WINDY DOHA
GOLF
RICHIE RAMSAY got off to a flier in Doha with a 68 to sit one shot off the lead after the first round of the Qatar Masters.
The Scot was at it right from the start in the windy conditions, eagling the first and birdieing the second.
And while the triple Tour winner bogeyed his third he sprinted to the top with birdies at his seventh, ninth and 10th holes.
Back-to-back bogeys at 16 and 17 dropped him to three-under. But Ramsay holed out for birdie at his last to end the round in a seven-way tie for second on four under.
Tied at the top are rookie Spaniard Ardi Arnaus and South African Justin Waters who posted the only bogey-free round in the leading nine.
Rookie Scot Robert MacIntyre also battled the windy conditions superbly to score a three-under 69.
MacIntyre said: “I’ve learned that the key out there is staying patient.
“I’ve made the cut in the five events I’ve played this year but I’ve also gone backwards on the weekends.
“So while I continue to do that I feel like I’ve been getting negative on the weekends and find myself looking at the leaderboards. The plan now is to BY BERNIE McGUIRE get aggressive as I’m not here just to make cuts.
“The goal then is get at it over the weekends and try to secure a top finish. My results so far have been steady but they’ve not been what I wanted.”
Fellow Scot Grant Forrest had moved to four-under after 13 only to doublebogey his 14th but to his credit the former Crail Battle Trophy champ birdied his last for a 69.
Double Doha winner Paul Lawrie struggled in the conditions, managing just two birdies at the seventh and last holes but also posting five bogeys, a double-bogey and a 12thhole triple in a score of 80.
He said: “A bit windy, a sore back and a very dodgy putter is not a good combo.”
Sam Locke, whom Lawrie had managed to secure an invitation, bounced back from being five-over through eight holes. In the company of the 1999 Open champ, he played his next 10 holes in three-under for a 74.
David Drysdale, Marc Warren and Liam Johnston hit level-par72s, with David Law and Scott Jamieson a shot further back and Stephen Gallacher on 76.