Woosnam sweats out 'punishment'

Golf

Golf

Ian Woosnam sweated his way to a five-under-par 67 in the first round of the Alfred Dunhill Masters in Jakarta, Indonesia, yesterday.

The Welshman overcame temperatures of over 100F to fire five birdies and no bogeys on the magnificent Arnold Palmer- designed course at the Emeralda and Country Club. He is one stroke off the lead, held jointly by Australians Craig Parry and Paul Gow, along with Sweden's Mathias Gronberg.

Woosnam, who only decided to enter the event a few weeks ago, said: "It's my punishment for playing badly all year. I haven't won a tournament for a while and I want desperately to win one before the end of the year, but in these conditions it is very hard to keep your concentration and score together."

Mark Mouland, who teams up with Woosnam for Wales in next week's Heineken World Cup in China, shot a two-under-par 70.

n Britain's Richard Boxall shot a first-round 72 to be six shots off the pace, set by Seiki Okuda of Japan, in the Daiwa International in Sudama, Japan.