Kofstad has 2-shot lead in 1st round of Wales Open

NEWPORT, Wales (AP) Espen Kofstad shot a 7-under 64 to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Wales Open at Celtic Manor on Thursday.

After going out in the first group of the day, the Norwegian ended his round with three birdies and then an eagle at the last after holing a bunker shot.

Kofstad, ranked No. 305, was ahead of England's Chris Wood and Australia's Richard Green, who shot 66s on the Twenty Ten course that hosted the 2010 Ryder Cup.

The event is the first in the qualification process for the 2014 Ryder Cup against the United States at Gleneagles in Scotland.

Europe captain Paul McGinley took the first shot of the tournament and had a 1-under 70, but was outclassed by playing partner Kofstad.

"What a way to finish birdie, birdie, birdie and then eagle is just fantastic," McGinley said. "Espen hit it a million miles, hit a lot of fairways, played very well and deserved that score."

The 25-year-old Kofstad has endured a wretched maiden year on the European Tour after finishing the leading graduate on last year's secondary Challenge Tour, missing nine halfway cuts in succession from April and also having a neck injury.

"I have been very, very calm the last two weeks," Kofstad said. "I started to settle down a bit as I was a bit stressed and tentative, and wasn't able to practise as much as I wanted to because of my neck injury.

"Today, I wasn't nervous and it felt easy."

Italy's Francesco Molinari, who is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 43, shot a 73 that included an eagle, five birdies, four bogeys and two double bogeys.

Defending champion Thongchai Jaidee, who needs a strong finish here to qualify for the International Team in the Presidents Cup, bogeyed two of his three closing holes for a level-par 71. Jaidee is hoping to become the first ever Thai-born player to feature in the Presidents Cup, which starts Oct. 3 at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.

Former British Open champion Darren Clarke slumped to his second-worst round this year, shooting 78 on the course where three years ago he was a Ryder Cup vice captain.