Paul McBride carded a four-under 66 to sit just three shots off the lead after the opening round of the Clutch Pro Tour’s Rapsodo Open at Oxford Golf Club, with Robert Brazill one shot further back.
10 Irish players are in the 161-man field, and McBride was among the early starters. After four birdies and two bogeys, he was -2 for the round as he stood on the 18th tee, but three shots and an eagle later, he was signing for a -4 round that had him inside the top five for most of the day.
Brazill also had two bogeys but birdied five holes for a -3 and a share of 14th, while James Sugrue, the highest-ranked Irishman on the Clutch Pro Order of Merit, overcame two bogeys in his first four holes to card a two-under 68 and lie tied for 31st.
Brandon St John is the only other Irishman in red figures at -1 and sits just above the cutline, with Conor Murtagh the wrong side at level-par.
John Ross Galbraith, Damien Scott and Rory Williamson will need rounds in the 60s at least if they’re to make it through to Thursday’s final round as they sit at +1, +2 and +3 respectively, while Scott Montgomery and Andrew Browne have considerably more work to do to make the cut.
Englishmen Giles Evans and Tom Sloman lead the way at -7, and the latter reached that number after nine holes as he reeled off five birdies and an eagle and covered his first half of the round in 28 strokes.
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