Donald left trailing after struggling at Wentworth

Kingston recorded seven birdies and one bogey to card a six-under-par 66 at Wentworth shortly before the threat of lightning saw play suspended at 3:42pm, with the final group having teed off seconds earlier.

A 90-minute delay meant the opening round would not be completed on schedule, but there was enough time for Donald to sign for an opening 78 to lie 12 shots off the lead.

‘‘I got off to a very slow start, it felt like I had no rhythm and feel,’’ said Donald, who is looking to emulate Colin Montgomerie (1998-2000) in winning the European Tour’s flagship event for three years in succession.

‘‘I don’t know if it was the cold but I was struggling to feel my hands a little bit.

Even when I had my opportunities I didn’t take them.’’ Asked if his chances of victory had gone, Donald added: ‘‘You never say that. This place always plays quite tough. The forecast tomorrow is not good so hopefully a low round will get me back in the tournament.’’ Hartlepool’s Graeme Storm limited the damage of an upand- down round with a birdie on the last as he finished with a one-over-par total of 73.

Storm, part of the first group that teed off at 7am, carded two birdies and two bogeys in his opening four holes.

A bogey at the eighth meant he reached the turn at one over, and while a birdie at the par-five 12th clawed him back to level, a double bogey six on the 15th was a major blow.

A birdie four on the last represented a fine way to finish, and Storm, who is the touring professional at Rockliffe Hall, will hope to produce another strong showing today to survive the cut.

Kingston is only in the field on a sponsor’s invite after losing his card at the end of last season, but made the most of it to lead by one shot from Finland’s Mikko Ilonen, with Scotland’s Scott Henry and Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez- Castano a shot further back.

‘‘I never felt like I played poorly enough to lose my card and that’s what makes it even more frustrating,’’ said Kingston, whose last of two European Tour victories came in the Mercedes Benz Championship in 2009.

‘‘I felt like I played half decent throughout the whole season, but just never managed to put a score on the board.’’ Ilonen had earlier survived everything the British summer could throw at him, including a brief spell of hail, to card a 67 as he looked to build on a run of two second places in his last three events.

‘‘It was pretty nippy when we started and stayed that way,’’ said Ilonen, who finished second in the Hassan Trophy and Volvo China Open recently.

‘‘All day I was thinking ’Can I get these waterproof trousers off?’ and never managed it. We even had hail on the ninth tee. I said to a friend last night it was going to snow today and she laughed at me.’’ All but one of last year’s victorious Ryder Cup team are in the 150-man field, but several of them fell victim to the closing stretch at Wentworth – scene of the most controversial parts of Ernie Els’ redesign in 2010.

Justin Rose finished bogey, double-bogey to drop from three under to level, while Rory McIlroy had also been three under after 12 holes but bogeyed five of the last six to be home in 41, a two-over 74.

McIlroy’s playing partner Graeme McDowell also ran up a double-bogey seven on the 18th in matching McIlroy’s 74.

Ian Poulter finished bogeybogey in a 76, but Sergio Garcia at least enjoyed a moment of pleasure in a week so far dominated by a racism row involving Tiger Woods, holing from 20 feet for eagle on the last in a round of 72.