Chaudhuri leads after first round of Motocaddy Masters

Neil Chaudhuri leads the Motocaddy Masters at The Carrick on Loch Lomond after shooting a first-round 68 for three under par in the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour event.

James Frazer and Sebastian Garcia Grout share second on two under, just one off the lead, with three players tied for third on one under.

The course provided a stern test on the opening day but leader Chaudhuri (www.specialisteyes.co.uk) responded instantly to a bogey at the first by birdieing the second. He went out in 33 after breaking par again at five, six and nine but dropped down the leaderboard when he double-bogeyed the par-four tenth.

The Leicester golfer, who represented England as an amateur, responded well again with a birdie at 11 and he returned to the lead with a birdie at 16 before closing out his round with two pars to sign for a 68.

Spaniard Garcia Grout (Golf de Poniente Mallorca) double bogeyed the third but birdies at five and seven saw him return to level par. A bogey at the ninth took his card back over par but he was one under after an eagle three at the 11th. Seven pars and a birdie at 15 saw him complete his opening round in 69 for a share of second on two under.

Welshman Frazer (Pennard Golf Club) is also just one behind leader Chaudhuri. He began his round at the tenth and made ten consecutive pars before a run of three birdies from the second took him to three under. A bogey at five followed but he was soon back to three under when he took two on the par-three sixth. However, a bogey on the eighth prevented him from sharing the lead after the first 18.

Greg McBain (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) is the leading Scot after the first round. The Aberdeen man shares fourth with Ireland’s Mark Murphy and Andrew Cheese (Sutton Coldfield Golf Club), who all carded 70 for one under on the opening day.

The Motocaddy Masters is a 54-hole strokeplay event, with a cut to the leading 50 players plus ties to be made after Thursday’s second round. The final round will be filmed for a two-hour highlights show to be aired on Sky Sports on Tuesday, July 22 and spectator entry is free throughout.

Motocaddy has been selected as the ‘Official Electric Trolley’ of the PGA EuroPro Tour for a ninth consecutive year. The PGA Europro Tour is the leading developmental tour in Europe with the top five players from the Order of Merit receiving exemptions onto the 2015 European Challenge Tour.