Lawrie the leader in Break90 Championship

Craig Lawrie leads the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour’s Break90 Championship by one stroke after carding a six under par 66 first round at Slaley Hall.

Lawrie, son of Paul, turned professional and joined the EuroPro Tour in 2014 and his best result came at Slaley Hall last year, where he finished tied 23rd on four under par.

He is trailed by nine golfers who carded five under par while some 12 golfers are four under after round one on The Priestman Course.

Among those just one behind Lawrie (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) is Gary King (Firstchoicevillas/TWGC), who won the first two events of the EuroPro season but was dislodged from the top of the Race To Desert Springs by Sam Connor after the Alsager man won at The Carrick on Loch Lomond last week.

Lawrie opened his round with a birdie at the first but returned to level par when he dropped a shot at the fifth.

Birdies at seven and eight took him two below the card and he broke par again at the 13th for three under. He made his mark at the end of the round, closing with birdies on the last three holes to sign for the best round of the day.

The Break90 Championship is a 54-hole strokeplay event with a cut to the leading 50 players and ties to be made after Thursday’s second round. The third and final round takes place on Friday and will be filmed for a two-hour highlights package to be broadcast on Sky Sports on Tuesday, August 25.

Spectator entry is free throughout the event and live scoring can be found at www.europrotour.com.