Golf: British stars struggle in Paris as Van De Velde turns back the clock

The two British stars resumed at Le Golf National this morning trailing Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen by seven and nine shots respectively.

But Westwood and Poulter also considered themselves to be at a disadvantage in yesterday's opening round because they were unable to play in the eve-of-tournament pro-am.

Westwood spent Wednesday afternoon in hospital having a swollen right leg looked at. He was initially told it could be a blood clot or even a deep vein thrombosis, but further tests put his mind at rest.

"I think I've got an injury in there somewhere," said the world No.3, who began with a one under par 70 and is in a tie for 30th. "I think it wants rest and I have a couple of weeks after The Open when I can put my feet up."

Although he lost a play-off to German Martin Kaymer last year Westwood added: "The course was a bit of a surprise to me and I didn't get the pace of the greens very well.

"The leg's a bit sore and stiff and the ankle is still swollen, but it's one of them things. It's age probably!

"Once I knew it was not what they suspected I was always going to play, but I tried to work my way into it easily."

Poulter, who suffered a bad reaction to an insect bite on his shin, three-putted two of the last three greens in his 72.

"I got round all right, but it was itching the whole day and driving me crazy," he said. "It flared up in the heat and walking round, but I'll go and ice it."

Derksen opened up a three-stroke lead with his eight under par 63, just one outside the course record jointly held by Kaymer and Eduardo Romero.

Defending champion Kaymer shared second spot overnight with 44-year-old Jean Van de Velde – no longer a full-time golfer and playing just his second European Tour event of the year – and Spaniard Alejandro Canizares. Rory McIlroy shot 68 to be in joint tenth spot and Luke Donald matched Westwood's round, but Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie was down in 84th spot following a 73.

Cup hopeful Simon Dyson and double Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, out for the last seven months with more rheumatism problems, had quintuple bogey nines on the 470-yard 18th and now need a miracle to survive the cut after shooting 78 and 82 respectively.

With the lake left of the fairway and then more water in front and behind the green, what a hole that could be in the 2018 Ryder Cup if France are awarded the match.

VIKKI LAING shot an opening 69 to lead the Scottish challenge after the opening round of the Tenerife Ladies' Open. The Kings Acre player trailed the two joint-leaders, England's Melissa Reid and Ursula Wikstrom from Finland by three shots.

LLOYD SALTMAN, bidding to bounce back from the disappointment of losing an Open spot in a play-off, shot a two-under 69 but still found himself five shots off the lead after the opening round of The Princess, a Challenge Tour event in Sweden. His brother, Elliot, had a 71.

AFTER opening with two 70s, Craigielaw's Shaun McAllister closed with a 75 to finish in a tie for 29th in the latest PGA EuroPro Tour event, the Stoke-by-Nayland Championship in Essex. It was won by former Walker Cup player Gary Wolstenholme with a 15-under-par total of 201.