Justin Rose fired a respectable two-under-par first round in the Italian Open yesterday but was facing a mountainous challenge to his hopes of staying on the European Tour.

Such was the high standard of play on the Is Molas course in Sardinia that 90 players recorded first-round scores of par and better.

Hampshire hopeful Rose needs at least a top-eight finish to earn enough here to keep his Tour Card for next season yet he was only in a tie for 43rd place after carding his two-under 70.

Another Hampshire man on a mission was Matt Blackey and, like Rose, he was in the middle of the pack. One of the last men out, he was one under after 12 holes.

Rose was full of determination as he started out from the tenth tee. He birdied the 12th, his second hole, and parred his way to the turn before picking up shots, back to back, at the first and second.

It left him three under and joint sixth on the early leaderboard, but all that changed when he bogied the sixth and seventh holes. His resilience shone through, though, and he bounced back with a birdie at the ninth, his last hole.

Blackey, in contrast, made a rocky start. Like Rose, he began at the tenth and was one over after three holes. A birdie at the 16th brought him back to level par and he went into red figures when he picked up a shot a the first. He needs an even better finish than Rose, nothing worse than a top six, to save his card.

It was a good day for the Tour veterans with Sam Torrance and Eamonn Darcy in a four-way tie for fourth place at seven under. Lee Westwood, looking to consolidate his place at the top of the European rankings, was two behind the leaders.