Wall flowers in Sweden

Wall's only tour win was the 2000 Alfred Dunhill Ch'ship

England's Anthony Wall surged three shots clear at the top of the Swedish Masters leaderboard after a sparkling round of 63 on Thursday.

The 26-year-old Londoner carded 10 birdies and just one bogey to lead by three from a quartet of players that includes Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke.

Wall - chasing his second career European Tour victory - was four under after nine holes and joined the clubhouse leaders on six under at the 11th.

A birdie at the 12th took him into the outright lead, and although he then dropped a shot another flurry of birdies saw him card a 63.

Westwood and Monty are in contention

"I was pleased to come back after two weeks off and shoot a round like that," said Wall.

"I was very disappointed to miss out on qualifying for The Open at Loch Lomond and worked hard with my dad Tom over the last two weeks."

Montgomerie posted a 66 for an early share of the lead with Dane Soren Hansen, and he was later joined by Clarke and Sweden's Peter Hedblom.

They are one shot clear of Clarke's great friend Lee Westwood.

He returned to form with a 67 after some words of advice from his wife Laurae, who told him to "keep smiling" no matter what happened.

Montgomerie's round was steady until he produced a glorious run from the 14th to pick up five shots in five holes, including a spectacular eagle on 16.

He crashed his three-wood approach to just 15 feet and rounded off an exhilarating revival with another birdie at the last, holing a putt of about 30 feet.

My wife was right - now I've got a bit of desire back into the old loins

  Lee Westwood

"After that start, I walked to the 13th and said to myself 'this will be a good tournament to win from here,'" Montgomerie said.

The Scot was also delighted to see Westwood's game coming back.

"I was so glad to see Lee Westwood performing to his best and so will all those involved in the Ryder Cup."

Westwood said: "When I left home, my wife said to me 'Play well and keep smiling, you're not far from playing well, it's just round the corner.'"

"She was right. Now I've got a bit of desire back into the old loins!"

Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance is alongside Westwood on five under, but Jesper Parnevik, who is expected to be one of Torrance's two wild card picks, is well off the pace.

The Swede, playing alongside Montgomerie and Westwood, managed a birdie at the last hole for a 71.

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Scandinavian Masters leaderboard, first round (GB unless stated):

9 under Anthony Wall
6 under Colin Montgomerie
Soren Hansen (Den)
Peter Hedblom (Swe)
Darren Clarke
5 under Gregory Havret (Fra)
Lee Westwood
Niclas Fasth (Swe)
Sam Torrance
Johan Rystrom (Swe)
Warren Bennett
Thomas Levet (Fra)

Selected others:

4 under Thomas Bjorn (Den)
Bradley Dredge
2 under Ian Woosnam
1 under Jesper Parnevik (Swe)