Magnificent Maw marches clear

James Maw carded an opening-round nine under par 62 to develop a four-shot lead after the first round of the COBRA PUMA GOLF Championship at Hawkstone Park Golf Club in Shropshire.

Maw (Rockliffe Hall) is 18th on the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour’s Race To Desert Springs Order of Merit with just three tournaments left to complete before the Tour Championship in Spain in October. The top five on the money list at the end of the season earn a Challenge Tour card for 2017.

Chris Lloyd (The Kenldeshire), Mike Bedford (Bramhall Park Golf Club), Lee Clarke (Beeston Fields Golf Club) and Race To Desert Springs leader Matthew Cort (Beedles Lake Golf Club) share second on five under par, four back from Maw, with five golfers at four under.

The Championship Course is usually a par 72 but is being played as a par 71 this week, with the fifth altered to be a par-four. Maw’s 62 equals the lowest round ever shot on the course.

Victory in the 54-hole COBRA PUMA GOLF Championship could propel the Yorkshireman as high as fourth on the tour rankings, but he hasn’t started thinking about the £10,000 prize yet.

“I got off to a steady start and then caught fire,” he said. “I stuttered a bit when the wind got up but I holed a shot for eagle on the 15th, which always helps.

“I was playing with Cort and Niall [Kearney], they are good players who were playing well and that keeps you going when the group are all playing well.

“There is a long way to go this week and if I am in this position tomorrow I might start thinking about the win and the Order of Merit, but I know what this game can do to you so I won’t start thinking about it yet.”

The COBRA PUMA GOLF Championship continues with the second round on Thursday, after which a cut to the top 50 and ties will be made ahead of Friday’s final round.

Highlights of the tournament will be broadcast on Sky Sports on Tuesday, September 13. Spectator entry is free throughout the event and live scoring can be found at www.europrotour.com.