Dixon makes music for his travelling band

To David Dixon it might have felt like the Ryder Cup but then he did have his own band of supporters following him. Dixon, who is in his first full season on the European Tour, hit a nine-iron to six inches at the ninth hole, his last, to lead the Benson & Hedges International with a six-under 66.

"It was a great roar," said the 26-year-old West Countryman from Bridgwater. "There are about 10 or 15 guys from my club at Enmore Park following me here but it felt like there were a thousand. It felt like it must have been at the Ryder Cup."

A comparison between the first day of this tournament and the momentous goings on at the Ryder Cup last September was somewhat wide of the mark. The electric atmosphere generated by the huge crowd was missing, of course, and though all the members of the European team received generous receptions from the loyal gallery few found the inspiration that produced that remarkable victory over the Americans.

Only two of the 10 players who are on show here broke par, with Bernhard Langer on 71 and Padraig Harrington in second place after a 67. Colin Montgomerie called his 72 a "waste of time". "I finished where I started, I should have gone and done something else," he said. The victorious captain, Sam Torrance, who will join the Seniors Tour in August, suffered two balls going out of bounds during an 82.

Harrington was one ahead of Angel Cabrera and Henrik Stenson, the last two winners of the B&H. The Irishman should have won here in 2000 but was disqualified for not signing his scorecard in the first round. Michael Campbell had signed it erroneously instead but the error did not come to light until the final morning, by which time Harrington had a five-stroke lead thanks to what was briefly a course record 64 in the third round but was later cancelled.

"I have only good memories of this place," Harrington said. "I couldn't tell you how long ago the incident was. I never think about it in a negative way. If anything it was a positive because I always sign my card twice now. If there is any reason I want to win this tournament it is because it is the last B&H and it has always been a great title to have on your CV."

The 31-year-old spent two weeks practising something in his swing prior to the event before then deciding it had not worked. "I overdid it and got in to a mess," he said. "It is not great to tear your swing apart and start again on the Saturday before the tournament."

The last time Harrington did not think he was playing very well he finished second at the US Players Championship. Yesterday he holed a wedge shot from 90 yards for an eagle at the third and then holed from 45 feet at the ninth. Otherwise he was steadiness personified, missing only one fairway and two greens on the fringes.

Dixon claimed the silver medal as the low amateur two years ago at the Open at Lytham. Strongly built, he gives the ball an ample thump and had a drive at the 18th there measured at 403 yards. With the rough particularly juicy on the Brabazon course, keeping the ball on the fairway was the key yesterday to having his name on the leaderboards rather than watching them when he visited the event at St Mellion as a youngster with his father.

It was an expensive round, however, as a bad timing for taking too long on the 18th green was his fourth of the season and meant of fine of £1,000. Unlike in Italy last week, however, Seve Ballesteros played at the requisite pace but his scored totted up to a 79.

BENSON & HEDGES INTERNATIONAL (The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield) Leading first-round scores (GB unless stated): 66 D Dixon. 67 P Harrington (Irl). 68 A Cabrera (Arg), H Stenson (Swe). 69 T Dier (Ger), D Gilford, S Leaney (Aus), G Brand Jnr, E Canonica. 70 M Tunnicliff, I Garbutt, R Sterne (SA), M Siem (Ger), R Gonzalez (Arg), B Davis, A Coltart, R Muntz (Neth). 71 P Casey, W Bennett, H Bjornstad (Nor), B Langer (Ger), P O'Malley (Aus), C Rocca (It), M Maritz (SA), S Webster, J Clement (Switzerland), R Chapman, J-F Remesy (Fr), P Lawrie, S Scahill (NZ), A Atwal (Ind), J Berendt (Arg), M Blackley, J Elson, P Mitchell, R Rock. 72 M Roe, J Moseley (Aus), J Spence, J Rose, C Schwartzel (SA), P Broadhurst, D Carter, P Golding, D Park, M Vibe-Hastrup (Den), P Fowler (Aus), M Mackenzie, C Montgomerie, L Westwood, S Khan, J M Lara (Sp), P Eales, B Mason.