GOLF/Irish Open First Round: So, contrary to all the apocalyptic forecasts, the slaughter didn't materialise. If not exactly a tame beast, at least the Montgomerie Course didn't devour all and sundry in yesterday's first round of the Nissan Irish Open at Carton House, outside Maynooth, where many players - simply reiterating how good these guys on tour can be - found a way to overcome a layout some had deemed unconquerable, writes Philip Reid

On a day when a stiff breeze blew across the manufactured inland "links-style" course to accentuate the problem of club selection, the players rose to the challenge. By day's end, no fewer than 27 players had bettered par and, almost irreverently, the pace was jointly set by Sweden's Klas Eriksson, a man overdue a change of fortune, and England's Nick Dougherty after rounds of four-under-par 68s.

Yet, neither could afford to feel giddy. As Colin Montgomerie, the Scot whose mind composed this devilishly difficult test, observed after an opening 71: "I don't think you'd ever expect a course of mine to be a resort-style golf course and 26-under-par winning. That wasn't me, and never would be me. I'm glad it is tough and a good test . . . the cream usually comes to the top in that situation."

All in all, it was a good day; not only for the tournament experimenting with a new date in the early part of what purports to be the Irish summer, but also for the home professionals saddled with the expectations of finally ending the drought since John O'Leary's win in 1982.

Colm Moriarty, playing on a sponsor's invite, led the way - on three-under-par 69 - but Darren Clarke and his young prodigy Rory McIlroy and club professional Damian Mooney also recorded sub-par rounds.

For a time, Clarke looked as if he would run riot. Having started on the 10th, he reached the turn in 32 strokes to be four under, but a score that could quite conceivably have been even better so well was his ball-striking and approach play. However, he missed a number of other birdie chances and, eventually the course bit back. The punishment for missing the fairway was exemplified by the bogeys inflicted on him by back-to-back bogeys on the first and second holes.

Clarke eventually signed for a 70. But, although content with that score, there was no suggestion the course was suddenly fitting his eye. "It's still very tough. It's tough to pick your line (off the tee). It's hard not to look up there and not see a bunker in front of you," he said.

As for the top-ranked player in the world competing? Padraig Harrington, ranked ninth, had a mixed-bag that comprised birdies, pars, bogeys and double bogeys and eventually put his signature to a 73.

"I definitely haven't shot myself out of it. I felt I got better as the round went on. I got more competitive, and my focus was better. I got sharper as I went on, but it's all about having patience. There's 54 holes to go," he said.

Among those to also be aware that just a quarter of the race has been run are Harrington's fellow tour players Paul McGinley (72), Graeme McDowell (73), Gary Murphy (73), Philip Walton (73), David Higgins (73) and Peter Lawrie (74), all conscious that they haven't played their way out of the tournament, but that a lot of work remains to be done to play their way into the business end of matters.

For a long time earlier this year, Eriksson wondered if he'd ever be competitive again after literally spending three months bed-bound with an illness called CMW, similar in many ways to the debilitating effects of glandular fever.

"I caught a virus on my liver in December and it completely took me out. I was in bed for three months, lost a lot of my muscles and around five kilos in weight," he recalled, after a 68 that moved him into a lead that was later to be shared by Dougherty.

In fact Eriksson decided to play the course blind, opting not to play a practice round in case it would leave him too tired.

The result was a round where, at one stage seeming to buckle with three successive bogeys, he showed enormous fortitude to recover to post three birdies in his last six holes.

The highpoint had been an eagle on the 18th, his ninth hole, where Eriksson hit a huge drive and followed up with a six-iron approach of 201 yards to three feet. That completed a front nine of 32.

"I think this is a fantastic golf course. You cannot get away with bad shots at all . . . anyone who wins on this golf course will be very proud of himself, I think, on Sunday afternoon."

While Eriksson is still seeking his first tour win, his company at the top of the leaderboard has experienced victory. Dougherty finally claimed his maiden tour win in the Singapore Masters in January and has arrived at every tournament since expecting to win. Last week, he missed the cut in the British Masters and that came as a shock to the system. It taught him a lesson. "I think I needed to back off myself a bit," said Dougherty.

Yesterday, the tour sensibly shortened the course by some 130 yards - the biggest change was to the first, moving the tee up 40 yards - as seven holes were played off more forward tees. Yet, not everyone benefited and former British Open champion, Paul Lawrie, who laboured to an 81, testified that it still represented a tough, old test of golf. Anyone chasing the title over the next three days would do well to bare that in mind, and not to be lulled into a sense of security.