Irish pair Paul Dunne and Michael Young are just two shots off the pace after the opening day of the D+D Real Czech Challenge at Royal Beroun Golf Club.
Both players are seven-under-par after rounds of 63 as Ross McGowan posted a sensational nine under par round of 61 to take a one stroke lead
The Englishman made four consecutive birdies to close out a bogey-free first round and move one stroke clear of Frenchman Maxence Giboudot who sits in solo second on eight under par.
The 42-year-old, who is a two-time DP World Tour winner having last triumphed in 2020 at the Italian Open, was delighted with all aspects of his game on a low-scoring day in Beroun.
“I played solid golf,” he said. “I’ve been playing well for a few weeks now without getting the rewards.
“Today I drove it a lot better, hit my irons close and the putter was working which also helps. The greens are strong, they held up well considering I was in the afternoon field.
“Overall, I think if you hit fairways around here, you’re going to have a good chance. They are pretty generous but there’s some long rough if you’re too far off line, so just keeping it in play and giving yourself chances is important.”
McGowan birdied two of his opening three holes before another gain at the seventh saw him make the turn three under par. Birdies at the tenth and 12th followed, before he carded birdies on each of his final four holes to climb into the lead late on day one.
“I hit two drivers up the 15th to about six feet and although I misread the putt slightly I still made birdie, then I hit it close on 16 and 17.
“Up the last, I hit a really good drive, but the lie was a little below my feet which isn’t what you want when you’re standing there with a four or five iron. I tried to hit a hard hook with my five iron which didn’t come off, but I got away with it and made another birdie by getting up and down from about 25 yards.
“Hopefully I can keep hitting it close tomorrow and hole a few more putts.”
Meanwhile, Cormac Sharvin and Ronan Mullarney are both on five-under after rounds of 65 with Conor O’Rourke two shots further back.
Stuart Grehan lies on two-under alongside Daniel Mulligan, Paul McBride and John Murphy while Mark Power is plus three.
The second round gets under way at 7:25am local time with McGowan teeing off at 8:05am alongside South African Deon Germishuys and Jakub Hrinda from Slovakia.
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