English Pair Leading The Way

• Thursday, 20 July 2006
• Mark Robinson
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English golf fans have two reasons to be cheerful as Greg Owen and Anthony Wall find themselves at the top of the leaderboard after opening rounds of 67 at Royal Liverpool in the 2006 Open Championship.

Owen fired six birdies in his opening round of -5, while Wall enjoyed more of a rollercoaster ride for his 67. Two bogeys were offset by three birdies and two eagles - on the 10th and the 16th, both of which are par-5s.

Earlier in the day the American duo of Jim Furyk and 1996 Open champion Tom Lehman posted rounds of 68, putting them in a tie for third place at -4 alongside a group that includes Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia.

Other significant names lying a further shot behind include England's Lee Westwood, Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke and Masters champion Phil Mickleson of the USA. Their rounds of 69 leave them in a good position going into Friday's second round.

Defending champion Tiger Woods teed off at 2.39pm UK time but bogeyed the first hole to leave him on +1 through two holes, whilst European fans were treated to a round of 74 by three-time winner Seve Ballesteros - a far better showing than most pundits had predicted.

However, those same European fans will have been left slightly disappointed by the lacklustre showings of the well-fancied David Howell (74), Luke Donald (74) and Padraig Harrington (75). The flambuoyant Englishman Ian Poulter - dressed in a Union Jack shirt and bright red trousers featuring a Claret Jug motif - also struggled to a round of 75, leaving him at +3 alongside Harrington.

The Hoylake links have started to dry out following last night's showers, which made scoring marginally easier for the early starters this morning.