Birthday boy O’Hara hopes for double celebration

Scottish Young Professionals champion Paul O'Hara holds a halfway lead in the Sandy Pipey Young Masters tournament at Royal Dornoch.

The Clydeway Golf assistant is set to turn 27 this week, yet if he can maintain his halfway lead in the £8,000 36-hole tournament there may be a double cause for celebration.

O'Hara shot a first-round level-par first round of 70 to lead the big field of young hopefuls over the world-ranked links. He did not quite escape a rising wind which made life difficult for the later starters but deviated from par at only four holes.

He birdied the first and long 12th, and bogeyed two short holes, the sixth and 13th.

In fact he did well to get away with a bogey at the sixth where he was through the back of the green with his tee shot and fluffed his chip back. O'Hara was relieved to see a 15ft putt drop for a four.

A shot off Paul's pace is Gullane's Keir McNicoll, who hails from Carnoustie. McNicoll had five birdies to the leader's two - the fifth, seventh, long ninth and long 12th, but he also had more bogeys than O'Hara, climaxing with a finish that cost him the lead - a bogey at the 16th and a double bogey six at the 18th.