ONLY 11 players in red and not one of the 156 competitors bogey-free told the story of the first day's play at the Wales Open yesterday.
It was not quite carnage at Celtic Manor but wind gusts of up to 30mph made it close to impossible at times for several of the more prominent members of the European Tour to do justice to their talents.
The Ryder Cup trio of Edoardo and Francesco Molinari and Miguel Angel Jimenez, for example, returned scores totalling 14-over-par, while another member of Colin Montgomerie's triumphant team, Ross Fisher, was one of the select band to break par with a round of 70.
Ten appeared to be the favourite number as scores soared into the 80s and one unfortunate, Gary Boyd, had two on his card, at the fifth and 14th holes. Perhaps not surprisingly, the 25-year-old Englishman chose to withdraw.
Early starter Lee Slattery, from Southport, leads by one from Germany's Marcel Siem and Tim Sluiter, of the Netherlands, after overcoming a wrist injury to shoot 67.
Given the difficulty of the conditions, Scotland's Stephen O'Hara was also entitled to feel pleased with himself that he managed to card 70 to share eighth place.
O'Hara, from Motherwell, has had a miserable time of late, missing the cut in six of his last European Tour events and slipping to 230th in the Race to Dubai but he hopes he may have found salvation in the form of a new putting style.
He revealed that he has adapted his broom-handle putter to fit under his sternum, explaining: "It keeps my hands still and I feel more able to release the putter at the ball. I haven't seen anyone else use that style of putting so I suppose I am a bit of a pioneer."
Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay is next highest Scot on level par, with Dunbar's David Drysdale one shot further back after a respectable 72.
Five bogies and a double at the 14th partially offset by four birdies was not what Paul Lawrie sought in his efforts to impress playing partner and Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal.
The Spaniard appears to have jinxed the Aberdonian, who opened with a three-over 74, given that Lawrie missed the cut when they were drawn together in the Spanish Open after scores of 78 and 75.
"Overall, it was not a good day but it could have been a lot worse," Lawrie concluded. "It is far from disastrous."
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