Farrelly leads after first round of Eagle Orchid Scottish Masters
13/06/2018
Craig Farrelly carded an exquisite eight-under par first round to lead by two at the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour’s Eagle Orchid Scottish Masters at Montrose Golf Links, Angus.
Farrelly (TPS) started in ferocious form, picking up six shots in his opening six holes to hold a commanding lead before midday on the opening day in Scotland.
Despite a bogey on the 9th, the Yorkshireman managed to pick up a further two birdies on the back nine to cement a comfortable two shot lead heading into the second round.
He said: “I started off very well today, it seemed quite easy for me out there today. I gave myself plenty of scoring opportunities on the front nine which I took advantage of. However, I’ve got some bad memories on some of those holes from last year so I didn’t get ahead of myself, taking a bogey on the 9th I thought to myself ‘that’s fine’ and moved on.”
The 44-year old is no stranger to this scenario after he opened with an impressive round of 67 at Montrose in 2017 but went on to miss the cut. He said: “I learnt from last year that I can’t put too much pressure on myself on the tough holes. I know when that wind starts switching I used to think I’d have to do things differently but now I realise that actually, sometimes a bogey on those harder holes is potentially a good score.”
Farrelly’s closest rival is Daniel Owen (Cumberwell Park) who sits two shots back on six-under par.
The second round of the Eagle Orchid Scottish Masters continues on Wednesday, 13th June, after which a cut to leading 50 players and ties will be made.
Spectator entry is free throughout and live scoring can be found at europrotour.com.
