WALES' Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam moved to the top of the leaderboard at the Celtic Manor Wales Open this morning, raising hopes of a first Welsh winner of the event.

The former US Masters champion started his round at five under par but quickly joined the five strong group of leaders with a birdie at the par four tenth - Woosie's first hole of the day.

The popular Welshman was looking to take advantage of fairly tame conditions at the often blustery resort, with light drizzle and low winds causing the early starters little concern.

Co-leaders Miguel Angel Jimenez, James Heath, Gary Emerson, James Lynn and Benoit Teilleria, were all due out this afternoon.

But it was not such a good start to the day for Nick Faldo, Wales' Stephen Dodd or Colin Montgomerie, all of whom were in danger of missing the cut. After seven holes, Montgomerie and Dodd were two-over par, one stroke ahead of Faldo.

Miguel Jimenez and his playing partners David Howell (+2) and Blackwood's Bradley Dredge (level) were due to start at 13.15, 20 minutes after the eye catching group of Thomas Bjorn (-2), Paul Lawrie (-2) and Paul McGinley (-1).

Despite his good form Woosnam admitted last night that he was dubious about his chances of winning the tournament.

Woosie trailed a six strong group of leaders by a single stroke overnight, sharing second place with England's Stuart Little. He didn't drop a shot yesterday in a composed and measured round, but he feared his 'putting twitch' might halt his chances of becoming the first home winner of Wales' premier golf event.

The 2006 Ryder Cup captain has been in reasonable form in the past few weeks, but knows he will have to take it up a notch to give the nation the home-grown winner it craves.

"The twitch starts as soon as I get the putter in my hand, I call it the black devil!" Woosnam explained. "It would be nice to stay in contention and I will just do my best, but sometimes I can't get the ball up and down and I shoot 74, which happened to me here a few years back.

"I don't have the confidence to bash my putts at the hole, because I'm not confident of leaving a three footer back.

"When I used to putt well I hit them hard, now I dribble them with no authority, I just need confidence."