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Poulter slumps as Khan and Vancsik share Classic lead

28/02/2008

England's Ian Poulter carded three double-bogeys in four holes to give himself a mountain to climb after the first round of the Johnnie Walker Classic.

Poulter finds himself nine shots off the lead - shared between India's Shamim Khan and Argentina's Daniel Vancsik - after his back-nine slump, which saw him shoot a seven on the par-five 14th and sixes on the par-four 15th and 17th holes.

The 32-year-old had been looking on course for a solid first round after birdying three consecutive holes between the eighth and tenth.

But a bogey five on the 12th was a sign of things to come as he dropped six shots over the final five holes of his round, finishing in a tie for 115th with a four-over-par 76.

Scotland's Colin Montgomerie also endured a frustrating time with a two-over-par round of 74.

Bogies on the first, eighth, 13th and 15th holes cost him a shot at the top of the leaderboard and leaves him in danger of missing the cut, despite birdies on the fifth and 14th.

At the top of the standings, Khan and Vancsik have a one-shot advantage over an 11-man field tied for third on four over par, which includes England's Mark Foster and Australia's Adam Scott.

Soren Hansen of Denmark is also still in the running on three under par, as is Englishman Graeme Storm (two-under) and Simon Griffiths (one-under), Scotland's Simon Yates and Sweden's Robert Karlsson (also both one-under).