Immaculate Price leads at Westward Ho!

What a difference a day makes – certainly for Ryder Cup player Phillip Price playing over the Royal North Devon links in the inaugural West of England Masters.

He languished near the bottom in the pre-tournament pro-am but profited from the experience over the tricky Westward Ho! course to leap into the lead after the opening round of the 36-hole event.

His faultless seven-under-par 65 was 11 shots better than his earlier return and halves of 33 and 32 and brought a one-shot lead over Michael Watson (Wessex Golf Centre) who produced the kind of form that helped him feature in the GB&I success in the PGA Cup in California last month.

He hit the ball magnificently, eliminated all errors and was the second of three players not to drop a shot. A successive four-birdie run from the 11^th was the main feature.

But neither player will feature in today’s battle to decide the group to represent the Region in the Play-Offs in Turkey next month. This was only Price’s second OOM outing while Watson, the national Play-Off winner five years ago, started too far behind to make a serious challenge.

Lee Thompson (Dudsbury) is too far ahead to lose the OOM title. His 69 with three birdies was the third flawless return and he shares 12^th, but he is surely in complete control of his own destiny.

The remaining places are likely to be filled by Devon and Cornwall men.

Adam Frayne (Yelverton), winner of the Players Championship at Cumberwell Park, shot 67 with six birdies and one dropped shot to start in third place today.

Plymouth’s James Ruth (China Fleet) is in fourth alongside Sion Bebb (Morlais Castle) on 68 and could well move into the leading trio as David Dixon (Enmore Park) and Toby Hunt (St Mellons), the two players ahead of him, both struggled. Dixon lies 25^th and Hunt 30^th.

Although Paul Hendriksen (Ivybridge) is 12^th he is more than capable of retaining second or third place. This would allow another player to qualify for Antalya as he is already booked on the plane as winner of the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship.