Murray and Orr get top marks at Tour school

Published on 25/11/2012 02:03

Scotland’s George Murray and Gary Orr made impressive starts as they sought to win European Tour cards in Spain yesterday.

Murray had a four-under 66 and

Orr a 67 in the first round of the Qualifying School Final Stage at PGA Catalunya Resort near Girona.

The pair were playing the 6,610-yard par 70 Tour Course – the shorter and “easier” course of the two in use. Also at the Tour Course, fellow Scots Jamie McLeary had a one-under 69, Callum Macaulay a 71 and Raymond Russell a 73.

Over at the longer Stadium Course, which has a par of 72, the Scots did not fare nearly so well. Alastair Forsyth had a 75, Scott Drummond a 76, Wallace Booth 
a 77 and Andrew McArthur a 
disastrous 80.

The most impressive round of the day was by Argentina’s 
Estanislao Goya, who made light work of testing conditions to claim a two shot lead from Murray.

After a steady, if unspectacular, front nine on the Tour course on which Goya made two birdies and a bogey to turn in 34, the Cordoba man made an eagle on the par five tenth.

And that proved the fillip for a highly impressive back nine in an increasingly influential wind which was gusting up to 25 miles per hour at times.