Strong man Alex holds firm at Burnham
02/06/2015
Hard work in the gym over winter paid off for Alex Wrigley as he defied gusting winds of up to 40mph to seize the lead in the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship at Burnham & Berrow.
The famed Somerset links, which celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, bared its teeth on the opening day of the £78,000 tournament as the 144 strong field was battered from start to finish with no player managing to break par.
But Hartlepool Golf Club attached pro Wrigley withstood everything the links could throw at him to sign for a level par 71 with two birdies on the fourth and 15th cancelling out just two dropped shots.
Wrigley leads by one stroke from North Berwick’s Paul Wardell with a clutch of players including last year’s winner Chris McDonnell, 2012 champion Gareth Wright (West Linton) and 2013 winner Dan Greenwood (Forest Pines) gathered at his heels two shots back.
Meanwhile the 2009 victor James Lee (Caerphilly Golf Club) enjoyed a special moment with a hole-in-one on the par 3 fifth hole.
However it was Wrigley though who took the plaudits on a day of difficult scoring which Morlais Castle’s Sion Bebb, another past champion, described as ‘brutal’.
“I’ve been brought up on links courses, it doesn’t make it any easier but you know what to do when the winds blowing, today was all about keeping it in play and keeping it level par,” said Wrigley.
“You’ve got to stay patient. On one of the bogeys I took an unplayable lie in the rough, and through keeping my patience and not losing my cool, I was able to hole a 10 footer for bogey which proved to be a really good bogey in the end because I went on to get a good birdie on 15th – which was probably a key shot to get me back to level par with three holes to play.
“It’s great to be leading but there are still three rounds to go. If I can produce the golf that I produced today then hopefully I should be there or thereabouts on Friday.
“I’ve played in this once before – it’s definitely the best event that The PGA run all year.”
Wrigley juggles coaching and shop work while competing on the Europro Tour but his long term target is to reach the top table of European golf while a good finish this week will earn him a place in the Great Britain & Ireland PGA Cup team to face the United States in California in September.
“I’m very passionate about playing. My life revolves around golf, when I’m at home and not at tournaments I’m working hard in the gym, practising hard and trying to fit lessons and shop hours in as well.
“It’s long hours, and through the winter, but it’s paying off.”
Wrigley teed off early in the second group but his lead was only threatened at the death by Wardell who was in the last group of the day alongside defending champion McDonnell.
“It wasn’t easy, I did a job. It was obviously a good score because there was only one player better than me. If you can keep bogeys off the card, if you can birdies great but you’re trying to limit the damage,” said Wardell.
“You do need a few breaks but I’m positive enough and dug in. It’s the old adage, digging in and grinding away.
“It’s the sort of course, that without being too brutal, you could go out tomorrow have a bad one and may be not make the cut so I’m not getting carried away, just one shot at a time and see what we can do.”
Wright meanwhile spoke for many of the field when he said: “That was about as tough as it’s going to get in a golf tournament.
“My game’s been really good this year, it’s the best start to a season I’ve had in a long time and to be only two shots back is great, that can go in one hole here so I stand every chance going into the rest of the tournament.
“It was a really good test for me, which is what you need especially in a PGA Cup year and I’d love to be over there in California helping Great Britain & Ireland to win on American soil.”
The 72-hole tournament concludes on Friday with the winner also gaining the keys to a Peugeot 308GT for 12 months.
