LISBON, October 13, 2011 (AFP) - South Africa's James Kingston carded an eight under par 64 to lead the Portugal Masters by one shot after Thursday's first round to get his campaign for a third European Tour title off to a sold start.
Seven birdies in eight holes were the highlight of the 45-year-old Kingston's round, a performance which followed two missed cuts by just a shot in his last two tournaments.
"I’ve been playing nicely. Just reflecting on the last two weeks, I felt like I played really good golf - to miss both cuts by a shot feels sickening but that's part of the game," said Kingston.
"I just couldn't put the scores on the board and this week we have. Hopefully it changes from here on in."
Five players were one behind -- Dane Thomas Bjorn, England’s Simon Khan, Northern Ireland’s Gareth Maybin, Welshman Rhys Davies and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger.
Bjorn, already a winner in Qatar, Scotland and Switzerland this season, turned in a brilliant 31 highlighted by a 10-foot birdie putt at the 17th and picked up further shots at the second and third.
"I played nicely early on and rolled in a few good putts," said Bjorn, who at seventh on The Race to Dubai is in line for a sizeable chunk of the $7,500,000 bonus pool. "It got a bit scruffy towards the end."
Leading and selected first round scores in the Portugal Masters at the Oceanico Victoria Golf Course, Vilamoura, on Thursday (GBR and IRL unless stated, par 72):
64 - James Kingston (RSA)
65 - Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Gareth Maybin, Rhys Davies, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Simon Khan
66 - Peter Hanson (SWE), Felipe Aguilar (CHI), Steve Webster, Ross Fisher, Soren Hansen (DEN), Maarten Lafeber (NED), Gregory Havret (FRA), Johan Edfors (SWE), Thongchai Jaidee (THA)
67 - Francesco Molinari (ITA), Richard Bland, Thomas Aiken (RSA), Joost Luiten (NED), Colin Montgomerie, Richard McEvoy, Martin Kaymer (GER), Andrew Dodt (AUS), Peter Lawrie, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP), Anthony Wall, Gary Murphy, Alexander Noren (SWE), Tano Goya (ARG), Mark Foster, Padraig Harrington
68 - Oliver Wilson, Robert Coles, Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), David Horsey, Mark Brown (NZL), Steven O'Hara, Raphael Jacquelin (FRA), Stephen Dodd, Alastair Forsyth, Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR)
69 - Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Robert Jan Derksen (NED), Damien McGrane, Oliver Fisher, Robert Rock, Shane Lowry, Alejandro Canizares (ESP), Benjamin Hebert (FRA), Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP), Marcus Fraser (AUS), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (FRA), Christian Nilsson (SWE), Daniel Gaunt (AUS), Phillip Price, Lee Slattery, Ricardo Gonzalez (ARG), David Drysdale, Matt Haines, Paul Lawrie, David Dixon, Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP), Keith Horne (RSA), Jamie Donaldson, Ignacio Garrido (ESP), Lorenzo Gagli (ITA)
Selected:
70 - Scott Strange (AUS), Tom Lewis, George Coetzee (RSA)
71 - Matthew Zions (AUS), Anthony Kang (USA), Jose-Maria Olazabal (ESP), Richard Green (AUS)
72 - Hennie Otto (RSA)
73 - John Daly (USA)
74 - Paul McGinley
76 - Brett Rumford (AUS)