VALENCIA, Spain: Former British Open champion Paul Lawrie and Ricardo Gonzalez shared the lead on seven under 64 after the first round of the Castello Masters here Thursday. This duo are being tracked by England's David Horsey, who is lying one shot after the opening skirmishes at the Club de Campo del Mediterraneo. Gonzalez, who turns 41 Sunday, is aiming for his fifth European title and he returned to form with a bogey-free round featuring seven birdies. Lawrie, who has already turned 41, is without a win since 2002 but put himself in contention to end that run by picking up seven shots in nine holes from the ninth. The Scot is placed 68th on The Race To Dubai and is gunning for a good finish here which could push him into the top 60 in the time for the Dubai World Championship next mnoth. Lawrie put his sparkling opening round down to his putting. “I putted lovely. I played solidly, I didn't play poorly, but I rolled the ball extremely well,” he told the European Tour's official website. “The greens this week are some of the best we've seen all year and when the greens are fast and they roll well I tend to hole putts so I did that today.” A group of fourth are breathing down Horsey's neck tied in a share of fourth one shot behind on five under - Jean-Baptiste Gonnet of France, Scot Gary Orr, BMW PGA Championship winner Simon Khan and his English compatriot Richard Finch. Local favorite Sergio Garcia carded a respectable level par round on his home course on his return to the European Tour. Fellow Spaniard Jose Maria Olzabel however has work to do to make the cut Friday after a two over par 73. Slattery leads in Egypt In Cairo, world No. 9 Rory McIlroy continued to struggle with his swing as the men eager to join him on the full European Tour took control of the second round at the Egyptian Open presented by SODIC in Cairo Thursday. A disappointing two over par 74 saw McIlroy squeeze through to the final two days of the $250,000 Challenge Tour event - but he remains a massive 10 shots adrift of tournament leader Lee Slattery of England on nine under par. And while Cairo's notorious desert wind finally blew across the course, McIlroy refused to blame his poor showing on the blustery conditions. If the Ryder Cup star is to make any headway in the tournament prior to rejoining his colleagues on the full European Tour, he will need to up his game considerably as Slattery continues his march out of the lower division. Currently lying 21st in the Challenge Tour rankings, the 32-year-old shot a superb 66 to add to his opening round 69 to move to nine under par (135), one shot ahead of Scotland's George Murray and overnight leader Alessandro Tadini of Italy. A former Challenge Tour winner, Slattery is well aware what a win in Cairo could do for his career. “If I could win here then I'd be safe for next year and the target at the moment is to get into the top 15 - anything better than that would be a bonus and winning here would come into that category.”
