GRAEME STORM overcame a morning battle with the traffic on the roads of the North-East to steer himself right into contention going into the second round of the British Masters at Close House.

The 39-year-old was unable to put in the sort of work on the practice ground he would have liked because of congestion problems on his way up to the Northumberland venue sandwiched between Heddon-on-the-Wall and Wylam.

Yet Storm, fresh from finishing third at the Portugal Masters on Sunday, still managed to turn on the style to card a near-flawless opening round five-under 65 to sit two shots off the lead.

Fellow Englishman Tyrrell Hatton and South African George Coetzee lead the way after shining brightest in front of crowds approaching 20,000. Sitting between that pair and Storm’s five-strong group are five others - Chris Hanson, Spaniard Alvaro Quiros and Scandinavians Rikard Karlberg, Mikko Korhonen and Mikko Ilonen – on six under.

Tournament host and Close House’s attached pro Lee Westwood, plus Ian Poulter, is only a shot behind Storm, while Rory McIlroy is menacingly placed on three-under going into the second day.

Such were the crowds on the opening day, a nearby farmer had to rent out his land so that a third car park could be used for public parking.

And Storm, who tees off at 8.40am on Friday after his lunch-time start to the competition, is looking forward to being able to warm-up properly by avoiding any traffic problems on his morning drive up from hometown Hartlepool.

He said: “The crowds were great, it was great to see so many people. I did know the crowds had come out with the weather and that’s really pleasing from a North-East point of view.

“The fact Rory is playing, Sergio is playing. As soon as Rory put his name to it the ticket sales would go through the roof.

“It took me an hour and 45 minutes to get here, that showed how many people were here! I was sat in traffic panicking a little because I wanted to get up early and practice. This week has been a bit of a whirlwind, I have not done the work I would normally do at a tournament.”

Storm could not have made a better start to the day. After creaming his drive into the middle of the fairway, he went onto make birdie with a 20ft putt. He then went on to birdie five and six before a drop at seven.

After that he birdied nine, 14 and 16 before rolling in another beautiful putt at the 16th. There were also a couple of important saves at 13 and 17 and he walked off the 18th green right in the thick of things.

Storm said: “It was a great day. Getting announced on the first tee was nice, being from the North-East. I was a little nervous at times, I knew a lot of people out there watching me so you think about that more than you would normally. You don’t really want to but it crops into your mind, but I am happy.

“It was great to see the people I know shouting me, but there were also a lot of people I don’t know supporting me which was nice.

“I am right in the mix. The weather isn’t supposed to be great so we will see what it brings, see what happens and play hard. See what score I can come up with.

“It looks like we could get the worst of the weather, but you never know up here. It rained all night last night and then was supposed to rain this morning and didn’t because it did all night.”

Storm, who beat McIlroy in a play-off to win the South Africa Open in January, has had the experience this year of being in and around the top scores so hopes to stay there in the £3m event.

“A couple of chances I left out there but made a couple of par saves at 13 and 17, so I’m happy with 65,” said Storm. “If you had given me 65 before I had teed off I would have taken it. The course was there to be shot at to be honest, the greens a little bumpy late on because of the traffic, course a little damp but the weather was fantastic.

“When I holed that putt at the 13th it was massive for me. I didn’t duff the first one, but it didn’t come out like I wanted it. So to hole that and keep the momentum, then birdie straight after it, was great. I gave myself chances coming in. I made a good par at 17 too.”

He added: “I am enjoying seeing my name up there. There’s loads of lads up there capable of shooting low scores, look at George Coetzee, he finished poorly last week and then shot seven under. Tyrrell Hatton has joined him. There’s a host of names up there.

“It’s one of those courses where scoring will be bunched. There might be someone who runs away with it who holes loads of putts but overall I would say it would be a tight tournament.”

Close House’s managing director Jon Lupton, from Middlesbrough, finished with a two-over start, while Stocksfield’s Chris Paisley faces a greater task to make the cut of top 60 and ties after shooting three-over.

LEADING SCORES

George Coetzee -7

Tyrrell Hatton -7

Alvaro Quiros -6

Chris Hanson -6

Mikko Ilonen -6

Mikko Korhonen -6

Rikard Karlberg -6

Johan Carlsson -5

Lee Slattery -5

Joel Stalter -5

Ashley Chesters -5

Graeme Storm -5

Selected others:

Lee Westwood -4

Ian Poulter -4

Rory McIlroy -3

Danny Willett -1

Sergio Garcia level