John Murphy is inside the top 10 after day one of the Clutch Pro Tour’s Mannings Heath Masters outside London, but Paul McBride and Alex Maguire both have work to do to hold onto their Order of Merit rankings.
Murphy, who came into the third-to-last event on the schedule as the sixth-ranked player on the circuit, had an eventful day in which he made six birdies, four bogeys, and one eagle to post a four-under 69 that sees him tied for 10th.
Marc Boucher on -2 and sharing 36th is next best of the Irish, but Alex Maguire, who came into the week ranked second on the Order of Merit, and Paul McBride who sat in third, both have work to do to earn a place in Friday’s third and final round.
McBride, fresh off winning The K Club Pro-Am, shot a level-par 72 and lies tied for 66th with the 50 and ties advancing after round two. The Island man had to change his travel plans to be present for the prizegiving ceremony at The K Club, so had no opportunity to play a practice round and will hope to make a move up the leaderboard havin acquainted himself with the course.
Maguire is one further adrift at +1. He covered his first 16 holes in one-under but finished with back-to-back bogeys to fall the wrong side of par. He’ll likely need a round in the 60s to have any chance of a final-round tee time, and it’s important that he does as two of those tied at top at six-under are among the main challengers for the top three places in the rankings which carry HotelPlanner Tour cards for 2027.
Angus Flanagan, fresh off a victory last week that saw him rise to eighth, sits alongside fifth-ranked Jon Hopkins and Jake Ayres at the top, two ahead of Murphy.
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