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Gleneagles, Scotland - Two lesser lights of the European Tour made their mark on the first day of the Johnnie Walker Championship when attention had been focused on who would make this year's European Ryder Cup team.
Chasing the last of the 10 automatic places, Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium shot an early 69 - he must finish first or second on Sunday to guarantee his debut against the United States at Medinah next month.
Scotland's Paul Lawrie and Francesco Molinari of Italy, who have already qualified for the team, shot impressive 68s later on a day when Gleneagles was swept by a gusting wind.
But by the close of the first day they were chasing Australian Brett Rumford and Norway's Knut Borsheim who shared the lead after shooting five-under-par 67s.
Borsheim is 215th in this year's race to Dubai with a best finish of tied 16th at the Madeira Islands Open and Rumford's form has been little better for the past two years.
In 2010 the 35-year-old, a three-times Tour winner from Perth, had six top-10 finishes. But since his wife gave birth to twins he has found himself distracted.
"I have been trying to fit in seven-hour practice sessions," he said. "But I have been trying to be there for my girls as well and be as good a father as I can be, trying to juggle many things at once."
But after taking advice from a sports psychologist, Rumford believes his game could be getting back on track.
Lawrie admitted after his seven-birdie round that being in contention for a Ryder Cup recall after a 13-year absence, since he won the Qatar Masters in February, had affected his game.
"You can never know how much the Ryder Cup plays on your mind - you're looking at the list and wondering whether someone is going to pass you," he said.
"I have been struggling a bit with my ball striking, grinding it out a bit and it's got me down. I have been a bit grumpy over the last couple of months.
"But I have been grinning like a Cheshire cat since it was confirmed that I have made the team because I wanted to get in so badly. And now I am in the team the good ball-striking has come back."
Colsaerts will have been the focus of attention for European captain Jose Maria Olazabal. If the Belgian does not finish in the top two he will have to rely on a wild-card pick.
"Obviously the big goal is playing," said the 29-year-old after a round which started on the 11th tee and included a run of four birdies in five holes from the 14th.
"But if I can get myself into the team automatically it would be a big boost. After the way I have been playing for the past year I feel okay playing in this company.
"And I know that on any given day I can take on anybody, which is why I have done so well in matchplay events."
Scores from the European PGA Tour Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles at the par-72 course on Thursday at Gleneagles:
67 Brett Rumford (Australia) 67
Knut Borsheim (Norway) 67 68 Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) 68
Mark Foster (Britain) 68
Paul Lawrie (Britain) 68
Francesco Molinari (Italy) 68
Maarten Lafeber (Netherlands) 68 69 Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) 69
Richie Ramsay (Britain) 69
Richard Finch (Britain) 69
Victor Dubuisson (France) 69
Andrew Dodt (Australia) 69 70 Lloyd Kennedy (Britain) 70
Gareth Maybin (Britain) 70
Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 70
Daniel Gaunt (Australia) 70
Craig Lee (Britain) 70
Chris Wood (Britain) 70
Chris Gane (Britain) 70
David Howell (Britain) 70
Benjamin Hebert (France) 70 71 Andrew Marshall (Britain) 71
Michael Hoey (Britain) 71
David Lynn (Britain) 71
Paul Waring (Britain) 71
Bradley Dredge (Britain) 71
Ricardo Gonzalez (Argentina) 71
Matthew Zions (Australia) 71
Gareth Wright (Britain) 71
Johan Edfors (Sweden) 71
Tom Lewis (Britain) 71
Edouard Dubois (France) 71
Marc Warren (Britain) 71
Tommy Fleetwood (Britain) 71
Joakim Lagergren (Sweden) 71
Matthew Nixon (Britain) 71
James Morrison (Britain) 71
Emiliano Grillo (Argentina) 71 72 Gregory Bourdy (France) 72
Rhys Davies (Britain) 72
David Drysdale (Britain) 72
Alexander Noren (Sweden) 72
Robert Coles (Britain) 72
Andrew Johnston (Britain) 72
Jose Manuel Lara (Spain) 72
Andy Sullivan (Britain) 72
Emanuele Canonica (Italy) 72
Alex Haindl (South Africa) 72
Peter Lawrie (Ireland) 72
Greig Hutcheon (Britain) 72
Joel Sjoeholm (Sweden) 72
Richard McEvoy (Britain) 72
Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 72
Anders Hansen (Denmark) 72
Peter Whiteford (Britain) 72
Colin Montgomerie (Britain) 72
Shiv Kapur (India) 72
Scott Pinckney (U.S.) 72
Gregory Havret (France) 72
Felipe Aguilar (Chile) 72 73 Shaun Micheel (U.S.) 73
Estanislao Goya (Argentina) 73
Paul McGinley (Ireland) 73
Tjaart Van der Walt (South Africa) 73
Oliver Fisher (Britain) 73
Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay) 73
Markus Brier (Austria) 73
Danny Denison (Britain) 73
Alejandro Canizares (Spain) 73
Fredrik Andersson Hed (Sweden) 73
Damien McGrane (Ireland) 73
Julien Quesne (France) 73
Lorenzo Gagli (Italy) 73
Jamie Elson (Britain) 73
Stephen Dodd (Britain) 73
Matthew Southgate (Britain) 73
Jorge Campillo (Spain) 73
Stephen Gray (Britain) 73 74 Graham Fox (Britain) 74
James Byrne (Britain) 74
Phillip Price (Britain) 74
Gary Orr (Britain) 74
Gary Boyd (Britain) 74
Raphael Jacquelin (France) 74
SSP Chowrasia (India) 74
Darren Fichardt (South Africa) 74
Sam Little (Britain) 74
Thomas Norret (Denmark) 74
Romain Wattel (France) 74
Andrea Pavan (Italy) 74
Victor Riu (France) 74
Bernd Ritthammer (Germany) 74
Simon Dyson (Britain) 74
Michael Jonzon (Sweden) 74
Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark) 74
Scott Strange (Australia) 74
Sam Hutsby (Britain) 74 75 Jamie Moul (Britain) 75
Stephen Gallacher (Britain) 75
Marcel Siem (Germany) 75
David Dixon (Britain) 75
Marcus Both (Australia) 75
Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 75
Federico Colombo (Italy) 75
Robert Rock (Britain) 75
Darren Clarke (Britain) 75
Peter Gustafsson (Sweden) 75
Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) 75
Mikael Lundberg (Sweden) 75
Richard Green (Australia) 75
Rikard Karlberg (Sweden) 75
Simon Thornton (Ireland) 75 76 Kenneth Ferrie (Britain) 76
Chris Doak (Britain) 76
George Murray (Britain) 76
Ross Fisher (Britain) 76
Pablo Martin (Spain) 76
Robert Dinwiddie (Britain) 76
Tim Sluiter (Netherlands) 76
Jbe' Kruger (South Africa) 76
Reinier Saxton (Netherlands) 76
Scott Jamieson (Britain) 76
Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 76
Robert-Jan Derksen (Netherlands) 76
Oscar Floren (Sweden) 76 77 Miles Tunnicliff (Britain) 77
Peter Hedblom (Sweden) 77
Paul McKechnie (Britain) 77
Ignacio Garrido (Spain) 77
Ricardo Santos (Portugal) 77
Grant Forrest (Britain) 77
Dylan Frittelli (South Africa) 77
Lloyd Saltman (Britain) 77
Adrian Otaegui (Spain) 77 78 Rich Beem (U.S.) 78
Marcus Fraser (Australia) 78
Keith Horne (South Africa) 78
Taco Remkes (Netherlands) 78
Graeme Storm (Britain) 78
Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 78 79 Roope Kakko (Finland) 79
Warren Bennett (Britain) 79
Scott Henderson (Britain) 79
Steven O'Hara (Britain) 79
Steve Webster (Britain) 79
Jack McDonald (Britain) 79
Richard Bland (Britain) 79
Matthew Baldwin (Britain) 79
Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (France) 79 80 Carlos Del Moral (Spain) 80
Alan Lockhart (Britain) 80 81 Mikko Ilonen (Finland) 81 82 Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 82
Petr Gal (Czech Republic) 82 83 Oliver Wilson (Britain) 83
David Patrick (Britain) 83
