Westwood shoots 81 ... and he can't even blame bad luck

Lee Westwood's hopes of recovering some semblance of form were dashed by a disastrous first round at the Portuguese Open here yesterday, after he finished the day 17 strokes off the lead.

The former European No 1 slumped to an 81 that included a quadruple-bogey eight on the 470-yard first hole, his 10th of the day. He is now 237th in the world and has to go back 20 months for his last top-10 finish.

"There was not really any bad luck to speak of. If I hadn't had any luck I wouldn't have broken 90," Westwood said. "Would you like me to be optimistic or full of doom and gloom? I've learnt to accept when it is bad – I'm not going to wave a magic wand and all of a sudden play well."

Already four over by the turn, Westwood went out of bounds from a fairway bunker at the first and from just short of the green in five, he left a chip way short and took two putts. Three holes later came his only birdie, but at the 432-yard sixth he hit his approach into water, leading to a double-bogey six.

The Swede Fredrik Jacobson led after an eight-under-par 64 in the first round, which knocked two strokes off the course record, while Phillip Price, trying for a record-equalling third win in the tournament, finished nine shots off the pace.

Only four of the 156-strong field broke 70. England's Greg Owen was delighted with his 66 to be three clear of the third-placed pair, Bradley Dredge and Carlos Rodiles.