After a month-long hiatus, the Alps Tour returned with the Croara Open in Piacenza, Italy, and Robert Moran is back in business with a first round 65 that leaves him just one shot off the lead.
The rookie pro is in 11th place in the Order of Merit, and still in with a chance of leaping into the top five and securing promotion to the Challenge Tour for 2025.
Starting on the 10th, he reeled off five successive pars before opening his birdie account on the 15th and, like buses, he made three-in-a-row to make the turn at -3. Two more followed on holes two and three, before his only dropped shot of the day came on four.
With two par-5s yet to come, a swift response was always likely and he birdied both of them, signing off with a four on the par-5 ninth to move to -6 and into a two-way tie for second place.
At -2, Marc Boucher is next best of the Irish and is tied for 24th, while Brandon St. John looks set to miss the 36-hole cut after opening with a five-over 76.
France’s Paul Elissalde leads the way with a seven-under 64, with Austrian amateur Jakob Lotschak alongside Moran at -6. Tied for fourth place at five-under are England’s Harry Ellis and France’s Aymeric Laussot.
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