DROITWICH golf ace John Bickerton faces a battle to make the cut at the Madrid Open.

Bickerton shared 88th place after shooting a two-over-par opening round of 73, not helped by a double-bogey six on the 10th hole.

That left him nine shots adrift of leader Lee Westwood, who held a one-shot advantage over the rest of the field.

The start of today's second round play was delayed for an hour by fog.

Ryder Cup-winning captain Sam Torrance, in the first group out, was on the tee waiting to play when officials ruled that conditions were not quite good enough.