A 78 the week before the Ryder Cup?

In the increasingly hysterical build-up to the forthcoming gathering at Gleneagles, Stephen Gallacher was calm before the storm. The frontline of the golfing battle beckons but, as Corporal Jones might have croaked in an episode of Dad's Army, it was a case of 'don't panic' for this laid-back Scot.

A seven-over card in the first round of the ISPS Handa Wales Open at a balmy Celtic Manor yesterday was not one of Gallacher's finest rounds of the year. In fact, it was his worst in a regular European Tour event this season and second only to the 81 he racked up in the Masters back in April.

But let's not read too much into it. Gallacher certainly wasn't. Having bust a gut to get into the Ryder Cup team, the 39-year-old has been kicking back and enjoying a three- week lay-off to recharge and refresh. On his last competitive outing, in the Italian Open, Gallacher reeled off 22 birdies and an eagle in 72 holes during his rousing charge that convinced Paul McGinley, the European captain, to hand him a well-deserved wild card.

Yesterday, the birdies were lesser spotted in a round that was as rusty as a nail on a sunken galleon. Seven bogeys reared their ugly head on a day when Gallacher just couldn't get going. His fellow Scot, Chris Doak, certainly got going, dashing off to the airport in a frightful haste to be with his pregnant wife, who was being induced last night.

Doak had chipped two balls into the water on the 18th and did not finish the hole as his mind turned to more important matters back home. "Golf certainly isn't everything," he later stated on his social media site.

Gallacher, meanwhile, was remaining philosophical about matters on the course. "I just felt I'd come down and play to get the rust off," said the Bathgate man. "I'm not down at all. I did half expect it. Generally, if I've got something to play for I'll play pretty well. When I go through the motions, I'm useless.

"All eyes are on next week and it's hard to put it out of my mind when I'm already in. Once you're in it, you just want it to happen.

"I just can't get up for this, really. Next week it'll be different; you're in a heightened mood and I'll be better. I went all out to get in the team and was knackered after that. So having had the break I had to come back to play, just to walk, really, and get the rust away for next week."

Joost Luiten was certainly a flying Dutchman as he covered his last 10 holes in six-under to surge to the top of the leaderboard with a six-under 65. Lurking just a shot behind was Glasgow's Andrew McArthur, who emerged from the gathering gloom of the evening with a 66 that included a trip into the water on the last, from where he managed to salvage his par. McArthur, a winner on the Challenge Tour this season, should have been in Kazakhstan this week trying to confirm his promotion back to the main European circuit.

"My wife, Laura, is due to give birth next Friday," he reported. "Obviously, I should be over there if I want to play on the Tour next year. But Laura said to me, 'you'll probably go out there, be thinking about it, miss the cut and miss the baby'. Thanks for the confidence, eh."

Also on that mark was that big-hitting Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, who illuminated his 66 with the kind of vast drive that used to be the reserve of a Top Gear challenge. On the downhill, downwind par-5 18th, Colsaerts thumped his tee-shot a colossal 447 yards. He then dunted a gap wedge onto the green and holed the putt for an eagle-3. His raking drive was the longest recorded in European Tour history, beating the previous record of 442 yards achieved by Shiv Kapur in the Madeira Islands Open a couple of years ago.

Of the other Ryder Cup players tuning up here, Jamie Donaldson had a 70, Thomas Bjorn posted a 71 and Lee Westwood signed for a 73.