The USPGA Qualifying School Second Stage is underway with very mixed fortunes for the two Irish players still involved , Mark Murphy of Waterville and Chris Devlin of Ballymena.
Murphy carded a level par first round of 72 at TPC Craig Ranch at McKinney in Texas to finish in a share of 14th place and might rue the dropped shots on holes 15 and 17 when gave up the birdies picked up on earlier holes. The Waterville man remains six shots off the leader, Fielding Brewbaker.
Bradley Iles of New Zealand is five under with Pablo Martin of Spain on four under after a round of 68.
Bradley Iles of New Zealand is five under with Pablo Martin of Spain on four under after a round of 68.
Murphy is in 45th place after day one with only the top 20 places and ties qualifying for the final stage.
Chris Devlin from Ballymena is playing Hombre Golf Club in Panama City Beach in Florida, near his home, and dropped shots on the 12 and 15th holes to start a bad run earl in the round. Then on the sixteenth a quadruple bogey 8 left Devlin 42 shots at the turn and under pressure to recover shots on the second leg. However another double bogey on the 6th and then a triple on the eighth returned a card of 82 on 11 over par.
Guy Boros leads the event overnight on 7 under par following a round of 64.
Devlin is in a tie for 72nd place and facing an impossible task of securing a top 19th spot or tie – with the dream of making the breakthrough slipping by for another year.
The Hombre Golf Club opened in December 1989 with 18 holes and hosted its first PGA Tour event in 1990 - The Panama City Beach Classic. In 2001, Hombre added the "Good" nine holes (3170 yards, par 35) to go along with the original "Bad" and "Ugly" nines. With 27 holes, Hombre can give you three different 18 hole options - Hombre's "the Good, the Bad & the Ugly".
