Dyson defies ‘wettest course I’ve played’ to lead

Four greens were damaged by overnight intruders and, following a 45-minute hold-up to complete repairs, a further three and a half hours were lost because of the weather.

“That’s probably the wettest course I’ve ever played,” said Malton’s Dyson after setting the pace on five under par along with German Marcel Siem.

His two previous victories in the event came at Kennemer in 2006 and 2009, both in play-offs, and with an Irish Open title in the bag this season the Yorkshireman is hoping to make this a year to remember.

He is currently 10th on the European Tour money list and added: “My best finish is eighth and I would love to beat that.”

Siem, without a top-10 finish on the circuit for over a year, still has work to do to keep his card at 104th.

He, like Dyson, eagled the long 12th as they moved one ahead of Robert Dinwiddie, who reached six under before running up two late bogeys in the worst of the conditions.

Defending champion Martin Kaymer, runner-up to Thomas Bjorn in Switzerland on Sunday, looked completely out of sorts as he started with a four-over 74.

The delays meant that Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy did not even start until after 5.30pm and had no hope of completing their opening rounds before nightfall.

Westwood bogeyed the fifth and sixth after missing the green both times, but birdied the next two to return to level par before play was called off for the day.

McIlroy also endured a sticky start, three-putting the third hole and remaining one over after eight.

Earlier, Thomas Levet made a successful return from breaking his leg jumping in a lake to celebrate his French Open victory two months ago.

A chip-in birdie on the 18th helped Levet to a one-under 69, while Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts shot 70 in his first event since injuring his elbow coming off a scooter just before the Open.

Harrogate’s John Parry began the tournament with a level-par 70.

The vandalism had seen areas on the fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth dug up overnight.

The affected parts were marked off as ground under repair, allowing players to move balls away when necessary.

Championship director Daan Slooter said: “At this moment we do not know who caused the damage. For (yesterday) and the rest of the tournament we have increased security substantially. I’m very disappointed for all the people here at the club who worked so hard over the past few days, through challenging weather conditions, to ensure the course was in playable condition.

“However, having said that, the same professionalism of the greenkeepers has ensured that the damage has been repaired so the tournament can go ahead. They are all due a huge vote of thanks.”