The first of the PGA’s new Open Series got underway at Marriott Worsley Park and there is a five-way tie at the top at the halfway stage.
In total there will be seven 36-hole tournaments, one played in each PGA region in Great Britain & Ireland, and the Manchester Open was the home for the North’s edition with each event counting towards the host region’s Order of Merit.
Any PGA member from the UK, Ireland and overseas can enter and there is an impressive prize pot of £20,000 up for grabs, which is consistent across all seven tournaments, and the idea of the series is to provide Member participation in regional tournaments, increase the access to top-level competition and, with it, higher purses.
The Open Series is additional to the reintroduced PGA Play-Offs which moved to the end of April.
At the top of proceedings in Manchester are Daniel Brown (Sedlescombe), Tim Ford (Liverpool Golf Centre & Drivin), Michael Watson (Wessex Golf Centre), Ben Hall (Rushcliffe) and Colm Moriarty (Glasson Lakehouse).
In total 32 players finished in red figures from a field of 130 – a total of 80 spots are made available to the host region before others exemptions kick in.
There were plenty of birdies flying around on day one and Moriarty’s finish was particularly strong. The former Walker Cup player was level par as he played the short 9th but he then double-bogeyed the par 3 to turn in two-over 37. But he then rattled off six birdies in his last eight holes to come home in 30 and turn his day around in some style.
Ronnie Bulford had an up-and-down day; he had one par in his first six holes, had a hat-trick of birdies from the 12th to get to three under but gave them all back at the 16th before closing out with an eagle for a two-under 69.
CLICK HERE to view a full list of result from day one of the Manchester Open.
