Golf: Ballesteros slumps

SEVE BALLESTEROS fell 14 strokes behind his Ryder Cup team-mate, Barry Lane, after a disastrous first round at the Turespana Balearic Open in Majorca yesterday.

While Lane was establishing a record for the lengthened Son Vida course with an eight- under-par 64, which put him three shots clear of the field, Ballesteros struggled to a 78.

Only four of the 144 players had worse scores than Ballesteros, and he now faces the prospect of missing the half-way cut for the second week running, in the event which brought his last victory exactly two years ago.

Ballesteros, three times a winner of the title, had seven bogeys and a double-bogey seven on his card. 'Everything went wrong and I'm not going into it,' he said. 'But tomorrow is another day.'

The US Masters is only a month away, but Ballesteros, whose 11th place at Augusta last April was one of few bright spots for him last year, added: 'The Masters is close, but it's not the end of the world.'