Golf: Scottish trio to the fore

Colin Montgomerie, who is running out of time to achieve a target he set himself in January, shared the first-round lead with Zimbabwe's Mark McNulty after the first round of the Iberia Open in Madrid yesterday.

Both men hit six-under-par scores of 66, Montgomerie on a bitterly cold morning before McNulty, slowly recovering from back trouble, collected two closing birdies as darkness descended.

Montgomerie has improved his Order of Merit placing in each of his five seasons on tour and, after finishing fourth last year, made a top-three spot one of his 1992 goals. 'I'm sixth at the moment and I've only got two weeks left,' the Scot said. 'Nobody can overtake Nick Faldo, but a good finish here and I'll be within catchable distance of the others.'

In joint third place, a shot adrift, are two more Scots, Sam Torrance and Ross Drummond. John Daly, the 1991 US PGA champion, started his third European tournament of the year with a two-under-par 70, but Sandy Lyle struggled to a 74.