Last night Colin Montgomerie hailed Lee Westwood's long overdue return to form after the first round of the Volvo Scandinavian Masters.

Montgomerie carded a six-under-par 66 at Barseback but was, if anything, more pleased to see Westwood fire a 67, his first sub-70 round in 17 attempts and lowest for two months.

Londoner Anthony Wall held a three-shot lead after a brilliant nine-under-par 63, one shot outside the course record, with Montgomerie sharing second alongside Darren Clarke, Denmark's Soren Hansen and Sweden's Peter Hedblom.

Westwood was another shot behind in a group of seven players that included Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance and England's Warren Bennett, who lost out to Bernhard Langer in a play-off for the Dutch Open on Sunday.

The world number nine missed the cut in four of his last six events and did so by nine shots last week, finishing joint 144th of 156 starters in the Dutch Open.

The long break he took around the birth of his first child Samuel in April, and moving to a new house, were widely blamed for the slump in form and Westwood conceded on Wednesday he had also been his "own worst enemy" on the course with a bad attitude contributing to the problems.

"I did not let it get to me today, although it was testing me," Westwood admitted. "On the 11th (his second hole) my drive went into a fairway bunker rolled to the lip and then back down and plugged.

"From there I found a terrible bare lie in the greenside bunker and I was thinking, 'here we go'. These things are sent to try us but I kept my head on and battled on."

Montgomerie could improve on his score today after a 66 that included two early bogeys that left him two over par after three holes and seven shots off the lead.

"It's nice to have my name on the leaderboard," said the Scot, who was seven under par for a seven-hole stretch with five birdies and an eagle. "After three holes I was two over par and it was not looking good but walking to the 13th I just said 'It's a good tournament to win from here!' But the thing about today was that it was so great to see Lee performing back to his best and that's a delight for everybody associated with the Ryder Cup."

Torrance echoed those sentiments and added: "I never in anyway considered doubting his capabilities. Form is short-term but class is forever - and I backed him this week!

"I did speak to him a couple of times but never to tell him to pull his finger out. He knocked Monty off his perch last year to become European number one which was a huge thing for him."

While Clarke joined in the chorus of approval for his close friend Westwood, particularly with the forthcoming Belfry showdown in mind, leader Wall was ruling himself out of the reckoning to make Torrance's team.

"I don't think I've got any chance," the 26-year-old 2000 Alfred Dunhill championship winner said after his round containing 10 birdies and one bogey.

"There are too many great players ahead of me who have contended in majors and everything. I was pleased to come back after two weeks off and shoot a round like that. I was very disappointed to miss out on qualifying for the Open at Loch Lomond."

Local favourite Jesper Parnevik found himself eight shots off the lead after a disappointing 71 as he chases a third Scandinavian Masters title and vital Ryder Cup points. The Swede is resigned, however, to needing to win the US PGA Championship in two week's time to qualify automatically for the team and remains a near-certainty for one of Torrance's two wild cards.