Richie Ramsay makes strong start in Seoul

LEE Westwood double-bogeyed the final hole of his first round at the Ballantine's Championship in South Korea to end day one six shots behind leader Damien McGrane but Scotland's Richie Ramsay had a strong start, carding a four-under 68 to lie just two shots off the pace.

Westwood, who returned to the top of the world rankings following his victory at the Indonesian Masters last week, made a solid start at the Blackstone Golf Club near Seoul before ending with a six at the par-four ninth - his 18th of the day.

He carded a 72, well behind McGrane who had eight birdies in his 66.

For Ramsay, who is in fifth place alongside Chinnarat Phadungsil of Thailand, it was the perfect response to his disappointment at last week's Volvo China Open, where he closed with a 74 having earlier been in contention. "I was a bit down last Sunday," said Ramsay, who countered two bogeys with a haul of six birdies. "But this is a new week and I've picked myself up and have a new attitude coming here. Today was one of those scores that I was not sure if it was great or bad. It could've been seven or eight under no problem if I tidied it up a bit. If I can chip and putt better I'll be in contention again on the Sunday sooner or later."

The other Scots in the field had relatively disappointing days, especially Alistair Forsyth who shot a seven-over round of 79. Peter Whiteford and David Drysdale finished four shots better than him, but have work to do if they are to survive the cut and play a part in the weekend rounds.

Forty-year-old McGrane, the winner of the China Open in 2008, holds a one-shot lead over Chile's Felipe Aguilar, England's Richard Finch and home favourite Park Sang-hyun.

"I made plenty of birdies and I putted nicely," McGrane said.

"I holed everything inside 15 feet. I made two bogeys which were out of nowhere really but that's golf I suppose. The fairways are generous and, just like last week, you make birdies on day one and keep going till the end of the tournament. That's what I started off doing, so hopefully I'll do it at end of the tournament."

Finch enjoyed five birdies in a bogey-free round and was pleased with his progress. He said: "Today I feel like I got up out of the right side of the bed and a few things went my way. When I hit putts too hard, and I'm thinking, please hit the hole, it hit the hole and disappeared. That's a two-shot swing basically.

"You do need that little bit of luck and for things to go your way. Hopefully, I still have a bit left in the tank but certainly took advantage today."

Aguilar had four birdies in an outward 32 and one more on the way home.

"You never know until the fat lady sings," he said. "It's just the beginning of the round. You can lose the tournament today, you can't win it.

"We are just getting ourselves in position to be in contention. I came off to a pretty hot start. I made a couple of long putts that really helped, and I could really feel the tension, especially coming into the last couple of holes, but really happy with the round."

Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez is in a share of 11th, while Ernie Els shot a one-over 73 in his opening round, a shot better than Ian Poulter, who started with consecutive double-bogeys before rallying to a 74.