Paul McBride shot an opening four-under round of 68 to end the day tied for fourth at the Clutch Pro Tour’s Tour Championship at Slaley Hall in Hexham as the Island man chases a HotelPlanner Tour card.
McBride, Alex Maguire and John Murphy all entered the week knowing that a victory would guarantee promotion by lifting them into the top three on the Order of Merit. McBride is already a two-time winner on the circuit in 2026, but a slight drop in form in the latter half of the season saw him fall to eighth in the rankings, with Maguire best-placed at sixth and Murphy one behind McBride in ninth.
The Dubliner made seven birdies in an eventful opening round, with four coming on the front nine and three on the back with the final one dropping on 17 which was enough to see him hold sole possession of third place, one behind former North of Ireland Amateur Championship winner Aaron Edwards Hill and two shy of first-round leader Lewis Wright.
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Maguire shot a level-par round of 72 to share 16th, but he’ll be bitterly disappointed having double bogeyed the 18th to drop eight places on the leaderboard.
If Murphy is going to play his way back into contention for promotion, he’s going to have to do it the hard way after an opening 75 left him tied for 42nd.
As things stand, McBride is projected to move into third in the rankings, with Maguire finishing seventh and earning seven HotelPlanner Tour starts which those ranked fourth to seventh receive, while Murphy would drop out of the top 10 and finish 11th.
But with 36 holes to go, anything can happen.
Dermot McElroy is next best of the Irish on the leaderboard at two-under and tied for eighth, with John Ross Galbraith one further adrift at -1.
Robert Brazill sits alongside Maguire at level-par, with Daniel Mulligan further down the field at +2, and amateur Eoin Rogers struggling to an eight-over 80.
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