Norman toils at Troon after his near miss at Open

Four days after nearly making history at the Open, Greg Norman laboured to a 75 in yesterday's opening round at the Seniors Open to be seven shots behind the co-leaders Eduardo Romero and Bruce Vaughan.

The 53-year-old Norman led the Open at Royal Birkdale with nine holes to play on Sunday and appeared on course to become the oldest winner of a major, but he eventually saw the title go to his playing partner Padraig Harrington.

Norman has yet to land a seniors title and is hoping his fourth event in Over-50s golf might make up for the hurt of Sunday's final round. However, in sunny conditions at Troon, Norman bogeyed six of the first 10 holes and was six over before he picked up a shot at the par-four 13th. He made one more birdie at the last with a pitch to three feet.

"Things just weren't going my way early on," Norman said. "I just had to hang in there and guts it out the best I could. The ball just wasn't rolling my way. There's more than one round in a golf tournament. I got to the first tee and I never played this golf course in this wind before. I didn't feel that confident with some of the tee shots and I hit it into a couple of divot holes, which didn't make me feel good on the first few holes."

Romero made one bogey in a three-under 68, driving into a fairway bunker at the par-five sixth hole and having to lay up. Vaughan, who made eight birdies, and Romero lead by one stroke over Andy Bean, John Cook and Kirk Hanefield of the United States and England's Nick Job. "It was either feast or famine," said Vaughan, a former firefighter who only took up golf at age 20 because his day job left him with time on his hands. "Outside of those two hockey sticks [sevens], it was a good round.

Vaughan is only in his second season on the Champions Tour and added: "I love coming over here. I wouldn't want a steady diet of it, but it's great to come over here to play these kind of golf courses."

While Norman struggled, his playing partner Tom Watson made every green and missed only one fairway in a bogey-free 70. "I don't think I have made all 18 greens ever in my life," said Watson, who has won three Senior Opens to go with the five he collected before he turned 50. "I am very happy." Norman and Sandy Lyle – who ended his Open challenge after just 10 holes – ended on four over, despite three birdies in the last four holes.

At the Russian Open, a rare albatross helped Sweden's Joakim Backstrom to claim a share of the first-round lead. Starting from the 10th hole at Le Meridien Moscow Country Club, Backstrom had already birdied the 12th and 14th when he holed his second shot to the 561-yard par-five 15th.

Backstrom's early clubhouse target was matched later in the day by his fellow Swede Fredrik Henge, Finland's Roope Kakko and England's David Carter. Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the former world tennis No 1, carded an 89.