McElroy eyeing the top-10 at Challenge Tour’s Hopps Open de Provence

Conor Cantwell
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Dermot McElroy (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)

Conor Cantwell

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Dermot McElroy’s opening round of 68 leaves him four shots off the lead and gives him a share of 12th place after the opening day of play at the Challenge Tour’s Hopps Open de Provence in France.

Félix Mory leads the tournament by a single shot on eight-under-par after an opening round of 64 ahead of the duo of Germany’s Jannick de Bruyn and Iceland’s Gudmundur Kristjansson.

Conor Purcell finished his first round on level par with Jonathan Caldwell a shot further back on +1, with shares of 58th and 69th respectively.

Although Dermot McElroy recorded an impressive score at the tournament’s outset, the 30-year-old started with a bogey on his opening hole and was one-over-par through his first two holes.

However, this ‘slow’ start didn’t last long, as the Northern Irishman rattled off five consecutive birdies between the third and the seventh and finished his front nine with a score of -4.

McElroy hit seven pars in a row which brought him to the 16th on a score of four-under-par where the 30-year-old played one of his best roles of the day.

A beautiful approach shot towards the pin on the 16th had enough backspin to keep the ball on the green, although it left him with some work to do to secure his sixth birdie of the day. McElroy stepped up and sank the eight-foot and left the green unable to keep the smile off his face.

A bogey on the 17th left would have left the Ballymena golfer slightly bitter, but a round of 68 is just what was needed after a disappointing showing at the Swiss Challenge a fortnight ago.

Another player who was brimming with joy after Round 1 was Félix Mory, who shot a scintillating round of 64 to claim the overnight lead on home soil.

The Frenchman started his round two-under-par through his opening four holes before a pair of birdies on the fifth and sixth sent him onto -4. Red scores on either side of the halfway point of his round improved his score further as the 29-year-old continued his impressive scoring.

A birdie-bogey run on the 14th and 15th kept the Frenchman’s score at -6 through 15 holes, but there was still time for Mory to snatch two birdies before the end of his round.

Lengthy putts on the 16th and 18th gave Mory the lead outright, with the ball almost willing itself to drop on both occasions as the Frenchman completed his impressive opening round.

Mory was jubilant after his opening round in his home country and was happy with his game.

“I drove the ball really well,” said Mory, “That set me up for a lot of birdies on the par fives. I hit irons on the par-five ninth and after a good drive on hole 14, I had a 50-degree wedge in on that par-five. My putting was good as well.

“Tomorrow I’ll just go out there and play golf with no expectations. That’s what I try to do most rounds. Sometimes that’s hard to do but I managed to do that well today.”

Tee times tomorrow: McElroy (12:30 p.m. from the 10th), Purcell (1:00 p.m. from the 1st), Caldwell (8:10 a.m. from the 10th)

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