Hunt sprints to the top at Radyr

Toby Hunt zoomed to the top of the Order of Merit in the Sprint Series after being the only player to break par in the second event at Radyr.

The St Mellons assistant finished joint third at Weston-super-Mare in the opening contest of the early-season challenge for assistants and players under 30. His target is to take the title after being runner-up last year and fourth the previous season.

He made an outstanding start on a warm day with a slight breeze when he drove the first green and sank the putt for an eagle. He followed with further birdies at the sixth and seventh and another three at the 12^th to stand at five-under-par.

But thoughts of a runaway win evaporated as he dropped four shots over the closing five holes and he settled for one-under 69.

This kept him one shot ahead of Tom Hanson (Tiverton) who best performance featured birdies at the eighth, 13^th and 18^th. The promising Craig Melding (Neath), winner of the South Wales PGA order of merit this year, maintained the pressure on Hunt by sharing third as he did at Weston.

 Matthew Williams (Dudsbury) made four birdies to match his 71 with Ashley Mansell (Clevedon), who eagled the eighth, and Adam Curtis (Bude) a further shot back in fifth.

The final two Sprint fixtures are at Yelverton on May 15 and Cumberwell Park a week later. The leading five players in the Order of Merit are awarded a goods package from Titleist & FootJoy and the winner receives an addition prize from golfbreaks.com.