Hallberg storms clear

Gary Hallberg: Remarkable round in tough conditions

American Gary Hallberg equalled the course record at Turnberry to lead the Senior Open Championship by three shots.

The 54-year-old recovered from an early bogey on the Ailsa course to put in a superb burst of eight birdies in 13 holes on his way to a seven-under-par 63.

"When I was five over on the first day after nine holes I thought, I'm not playing that bad," Hallberg told the European Tour website.

"I was playing good but I just couldn't get it going. So I hung in there and played a great back nine; I think the 40 helped me because it turned me around mentally to go play aggressively.

"So I played aggressively today, had some great putts go in but I also missed some putts from around six, seven feet today but you can't make them all.

"It was one of the great days that I've had in many years on the golf course. It was just a pleasure."

It left him clear of first-round leader Bernhard Langer who played steady golf in the windy conditions to reach the turn in par and went on to birdie the 11th.

But a disastrous triple-bogey seven at the 13th, followed by another bogey at the 17th saw him slump to a round of 73.

Former Open champion Tom Lehman is also on three-under-par, with four players a further two shots back on -1 on a day when only Hallberg and Fred Couples (lev) broke 70.

Englishman Roger Chapman's bid to become only the second man after Gary Player to complete a senior major grand slam following his triumphs in the Senior US PGA and Senior US Open championships ended in disappointment after he failed to start the second round because of a neck injury.

"I'm just so disappointed because history beckoned and I would love to have equalled Gary Player's record and I felt like I could have done well round here," said the 53-year-old.