Irish Open tied four ways

LIMERICK, Ireland, May 17 (UPI) -- Simon Dyson shot a 4-under-par 68 Thursday to join three others atop the leader board after the first round of the European Tour's Irish Open.

Others in the four-way tie are Peter Hanson, Peter Gustafsson and Andres Romero.

Dyson has won twice on the European Tour and finished in the Top 10 in six tournaments this season.

"This is a big tournament, another big one next week, so you want to put all your focus into them," said Dyson. "My dad was always on me because he knew I wasn't putting all of my time into being the best player that I could be."

James Kingston, Christian Nilsson and Louis Oosthuizen are tied for fifth place at 3-under 69.

Defending champion Thomas Bjorn shot 3-over 75 and is part of a group tied for 64th place.

The BMW Championship, a major on the tour, is played next week.