Gary Murphy made a hole-in-one on the par-3 seventh hole at Trump International Golf Links Scotland in round one of the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship, but it wasn’t enough to see him end day one inside the provisional cut mark.
The Kilkenny native had already bogeyed the second and fifth holes, then double bogeyed the sixth but felt much better about himself leaving the next tee box after a perfectly executed 7-iron found the bottom of the cup.
Unbelievably, Murphy’s ace wasn’t the first of the day on the hole. In fact, it wasn’t even the second as American Michael Block and England’s Sam Little had already holed-out from the tee box on the same hole in the 90 minutes prior.
Though that was the obvious highlight for the 54-year-old, he did manage to find two birdies over the closing four holes to shoot a five-over 77 that leaves him tied for 64th in the 92-man field.
Paul McGinley is one further adrift after a six-over 78, but Cameron Clark’s one-over 73 was the low-round of the day from an Irish perspective. The Ballymena man made an eagle and two birdies along with five bogeys and lies tied for 32nd, seven rounds off the trio of early pace setters in Michael Campbell, Darren Fichardt and Keith Horne after all three carded superb six-under-par 66s.
Campbell, the 2005 U.S. Open Champion, missed just two greens all day as he tamed the challenging coastal conditions in Aberdeen. The round was capped by a superb birdie on the par-5 18th, the New Zealander getting up and down from a greenside bunker for a closing four that give him a share of the lead.
“It was stress-free out there. I drove the ball great. I’ve been trending in the right direction over the last couple of weeks with some good golf, and my putting is better now. It’s a combination of everything really,” said Campbell, who believes improvements to both his putting and driving have been the key to his recent performances.
“I’ve had putting issues the last six months or so, but I’ve sorted that out through my routine and trying to visualise the putts more clearly. My driving has always been my nemesis, but I hit every fairway today and I’m feeling very comfortable out there right now.”
Fichardt, who lost out to Bo Van Pelt in a dramatic playoff at last year’s Staysure PGA Seniors Championship, continued his excellent recent form after finishing runner-up at last month’s ISPS HANDA Senior Open.
“I was very happy. It was freezing cold this morning, so I thought something around level par would be quite good. But I made a few putts, hit the ball really well and got it to seven-under before the bogey on the par three,” said Fichardt.
Four-time DP World Tour winner Horne carded a 66 after a composed day’s work around the New Course, where he managed the challenging conditions expertly to join his compatriot at the top of the leaderboard.
“I’m pretty chuffed. I played solid all day. I didn’t really know what to expect. I didn’t do too much wrong, didn’t get into too much trouble and I putted really well today. I didn’t miss anything I should have made and my pace on the greens was good,” said Horne.
The South African admitted the changing winds played a significant role throughout the day.
“The wind was blowing and it was really tough in the beginning, so I had to be really careful. I actually think I got a bit lucky towards the end when the wind eased on the closing holes, but I’ll certainly take it.”
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