McGowan, Ruiz share Italian Open lead

Marc Warren, Mark Foster and Hennie Otto were a shot off the lead at seven- under 65, with 2005 champion Steve Webster leading a group of eight players at 66.

The scuttling Daly opened with a five-under 67, his second-best round on any tour this year, and was in a 10-way tie for 14th place.

"I had a good day today," said Daly, who has lost his status on the PGA Tour. "Apart from the sixth, I drove the ball pretty well and moved it up in my stance a little bit, which felt good. I putted quite well too, but I hit a lot of greens, which always helps."

McGowan, a European Challenge Tour graduate from England, posted his 64 Thursday without a bogey on his scorecard.

He did most of his damage on his first nine holes -- the back nine -- which he played at six-under 30. His six birdies there included four in a row from the 13th hole.

McGowan stressed the importance of hitting the Castello di Tolcinasco course's fairways.

"There were a couple of loose ones out there, but on the par-fives and the long par-fours I seemed to be able to hit the fairways, which was good," he said.

The 26-year-old Englishman made it around the course with just 27 putts.

"The greens here are fantastic -- probably the best I've seen for a while, and they stayed pretty true right through the day which is good," said McGowan. "A few courses recently have spiked up in the afternoon, but these one are very firm."

Ruiz played two groups ahead of McGowan off the 10th tee and took the clubhouse lead with a near-flawless round that included nine birdies and a bogey.

The 33-year-old Paraguayan is fresh off a 15th-place tie last week in Spain, his best finish of the season.

"I played well last week, and at one point I was only one shot off the lead. But at the ninth hole, I tried to get too close to the pin, and ended up making a seven," said Ruiz. "It was a stupid mistake, but that's golf for you. Today, I was very happy to shoot eight-under par, and hopefully I can play well and fight for the title."

Gregory Bourdy, Estanislao Goya, Per-Ulrik Johansson, Soren Kjeldsen, Alexander Noren, Oliver Wilson and Fabrizio Zanotti were tied with Webster at 66.