International Open: Raphael Jacquelin repeated his feat of three weeks ago by shooting a course-record 62 to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the BMW International in Munich yesterday.

The Frenchman's 10-under-par return equalled the Nord Eichenried course record and matched his opening 62 in the Nordic Open in Copenhagen.

Jacquelin, yet to win on the full tour, eventually slipped back to finish 25th in Denmark but 10 birdies yesterday have renewed his hope of a maiden victory.

He is two shots ahead of Thomas Bjorn of Denmark, Marcel Siem of Germany and British duo David Howell and Gary Emerson.

Two years ago Jacquelin made his mark by winning a car for a hole-in-one in the event and he drove to Nord Eichenried in it before hitting top gear on the course.

"Oddly enough this was the first time I'd driven the car to a tournament and today was great fun again," said the 29-year-old after chalking up his third career 62.

Bjorn is well placed again in a tournament he won in 2000 and 2002.

After his recent near-misses in the British and Irish Opens, where he finished runner-up in both, Bjorn was happy to be in contention again.

A brush-up on his swing with occasional coach Simon Holmes did the trick again as he birdied eight of the last 10 holes.

"I've only ever had two lessons in my life before with Simon, here, in 2000 and 2002," he said.

Siem, in his second full year on tour, had his first bogey-free round of the year as he equalled his career-best score.

Howell, whose only victory came in the 1999 Dubai Desert Classic, matched Jacquelin's 10 birdies but dropped two shots, while Emerson, also looking for a maiden win, picked up an eagle and six birdies.

Former winner Robert Karlsson of Sweden and Britons Lee Westwood and Paul Casey are three strokes off the lead but on a low-scoring day, world number two and European number one Ernie Els had to settle for a 68 to lie six strokes behind the leader.

Another tournament favourite, John Daly, the 2001 winner at Nord Eichenried, trails by 10 strokes.

Daly admitted that personal problems over his wife Sherrie, who faces drug and money laundering charges in the United States, were affecting his game.

"It drains you mentally when you're out on the course," said Daly. "Because I am worried about her."

Severiano Ballesteros's return to the tour proved an embarrassment as he crashed to an 84 to lie 22 strokes off the pace.

His playing partner Marc Farry said: "It was very sad. He was either hitting a low hook or a huge slice and it's hard to make a score when you keep missing the fairway by 50 metres."

Casey and Westwood were both glad to be back on a course where birdies are the norm after two tough weeks at the USPGA championship and NEC Invitational.

But Westwood also insisted: "If I played like I did today over the last two weeks I still would have shot a good score because I was in the middle of the fairway and hitting it to 15 feet on every hole.

"It's nice to play well but I played well the last two weeks without getting any luck. Today I didn't need any. I played lovely, didn't make a five and had a couple of full lip-outs, one from eight feet for an eagle on the ninth."