Roope and Le Mesurier share Tour Championship lead - 20/10/2005

Colin Roope and Martin Le Mesurier lead the Les Bordes Tour Championship on the Ivobank PGA EuroPro Tour after the first round.  

Le Mesurier (Vear Group) had Jekyll and Hyde front and back nines - starting on the back nine and birdying the tenth, fourteenth and seventeenth holes to go out three under. But he wiped those shots out with bogeys at one, two and five before a birdie at the seventh saw him enter the clubhouse as the first player under par for the tournament with a fine 71.

Roope (wstore.co.uk, pictured) followed Le Mesurier shortly after to become the second - and final - player in the 56-strong under par on a day where stiff winds made the testing venue all the more difficult. Beginning on the tenth, Roope was one over after his first nine and he quickly moved level with a birdie at the first. That was followed that with bogeys at the third and fifth to drop to two over but his round picked up pace with a fantastic eagle at the seventh and a birdie at nine.

With £20,000 up for grabs, as well as the Order of Merit to be decided in the finale to the 2008 Tour, the Les Bordes course is proving a fitting obstacle for the players in the hunt for the big prize. Alan Murray's consistency over the year shows no signs of stopping in the face of the challenge and the Greystones GC man set his stall out early here, recovering from a dropped shot on the tenth - his first - to record three straight birdies from 11 to go out two under. He was unable to pick up anymore shots on the front nine though and bogeys at the first and sixth holes saw him card 72, the same score shot by Aran Wainwright (DP Publicity).

Scores of 73 mean that Robert Steele (Kenilworth GC), Graham Gordon (SWM Golf Management), Andrew Oldcorn (Kings Acre), Jamie Moul (Stoke by Nayland) and David Clark (Morpeth GC) are tied in third place. Oldcorn was one under at the eighteenth but a double bogey six saw him drop to one over, which is also what happened to Daniel Brooks (Mill Hill) who joins Damian Mooney (Nevada Bobs Belfast) and Jason Kelly (Wentworth) at two over.

The second round begins at 8.45am (UK time) with live scoring available by clicking on the Score Updates link on the homepage.

Date Posted: 20/10/08, 5pm (UK time)