EUROPEAN

• Fraser, Lundberg share lead at The Belfry

  
  

  West Midlands, England (Sports Network) - Marcus Fraser and Mikael Lundberg both opened with rounds of five-under-par 67 Thursday to share the lead after the first round of the British Masters.

  Fraser's lone tour win came at the 2003 Russian Open, while Lundberg won that same crown in 2005 and earlier this year.

  Defending champion Lee Westwood is one of five players tied for third place at minus-four.

  He was joined there by Anders Hansen, Sam Walker, Marc Warren and Rafael Echenique.

  Westwood and Graeme McDowell are the only two players from the European Ryder Cup team playing this tournament.

  Westwood struggled to an 0-2-2 mark at Valhalla, while McDowell was a solid 2-1-1. McDowell is tied for 42nd at even- par.

  Fraser used a hot front nine to gain his share of the lead. He opened with back-to-back birdies from the par-four second.

  After a birdie on the fifth at The Belfry, Fraser birdied Nos. 8 and 9 to make the turn at five-under.

  Around the turn, Fraser stumbled to bogeys at 11 and 12.

  "I got off to a good start, birdied two and three and then I hit another birdie at five and then birdied eight and nine, so it was nice to turn in five-under," Fraser stated. "Then just a couple of soft bogeys on 11 and 12, just didn't get up and down." He recovered one of those strokes with a birdie on the 15th. Fraser made it two straight with a birdie on 16 that got him back to minus-five. He then parred the final two holes.

  Fraser needs a solid week as he stands 115th on the Order of Merit and only the top 115 retain their tour cards for next season.

  Lundberg followed a birdie on the third with another at the fourth. After three straight pars, he birdied the eighth to make the turn at three-under.

  On the back nine, Lundberg grabbed a share of the lead thanks to birdies on 11 and 13.

  However, he stumbled to a bogey at the 14th. Lundberg bounced back with a birdie on 15 to regain a share of the lead. He parred the final three holes to share the lead with Fraser.

  "It was fantastic considering I've been playing horrible for the last month and a half, so I'm very pleased," said Lundberg, who has missed the cut in four of his last seven starts. "I hit them very straight off the tee. I was never in trouble and then I hit some good iron shots and some putts." Former major champions Michael Campbell and Paul Lawrie are tied for eighth at three-under-par 69.

  They were joined there by Thomas Bjorn, Greg Owen, Bank Austria GolfOpen champ Jeev Milkha Singh, Saint-Omer Open winner David Dixon and Mikko Ilonen.

  Nick Dougherty and Simon Wakefield are among nine players tied at minus-two.

  09/25 15:07:58 ET