Murray and Orr get top marks at Tour school

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.