Niall Kearney and Jonathan Caldwell both have work to do if they are to qualify for the weekend at the Mallorca Golf Open on the DP World Tour.
The Irish pair opened with a one-over 72 and two-over 73 respectively at Son Muntaner Golf Club in Palma which leaves them just outside the cut line as it stands.
Three birdies and four bogeys for Kearney has him in tied-85th and one shot off the current cut line, which sits at level-par, while Caldwell did well to bounce back from an early double-bogey to keep himself in the mix with a run of three birdies in four holes and three bogeys.
Both could do with making it into the final two rounds in Spain, with Kearney currently 175th in the Race to Dubai, while Caldwell is 202nd, so a good three rounds would serve them both well.
The lead is held by England’s Marcus Armitage, who signed for eight birdies in a bogey-free 63 to not only take a one-stroke advantage after the opening day but also set a new course record at Son Muntaner.
“It was great, it’s wicked when you do that. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, last week my second round 67 felt like a 63 or 62 to me, but this week’s a bit different and it’s nice to play like that and get off to a start like that,” said Armitage.
“It’s a good little track, it’s got rough in certain places that you’ve got to avoid and the greens are receptive so it is a lot easier to what we’re used to. But you’ve still got to go out there and do it, there’s the tick rough that you have to navigate around.”
The Netherlands’ Daan Huizing is second after five birdies and an eagle in his bogey-free 64, with Alejandro Cañizares, Rasmus Højgaard and Lukas Nemecz a shot further back after a trio of 65s.
Meanwhile, Cormac Sharvin had a brutal opening round as he carded four double-bogeys, four bogeys and two birdies in a 10-over 81 to sit bottom of the leaderboard.
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