Willman The Wizard In The Wind - 23/03/2008

GRANT WILLMAN holds the lead following day one of the Sky Sports Qualifying School Final Stage, after firing a six-under-par 66 in the Bedfordshire wind.

Players at both Bedford and Pavenham were heavily affected by gusts of up to 40mph as well as rain on the opening day of the event.

Only Peter Whiteford, with a 70, managed to break par at Bedford, with three others hitting 72 for their opening round.

At Pavenham, Willman's outstanding 66 was closely followed by rounds of 67 from Robert McGuirk, Anton Haig and Matthew Griffiths.

Robert Thomas, Steve Surrey and Matthew Bannister stand at -3 following day one, with four players joining Whiteford on -2.

Players will switch courses from Bedford to Pavenham or vice-versa for Thursday's second round, before the cut is made to 120 players for the third and final round on Friday.

For full scores from Bedford and Pavenham, click here ." target="_blank" www.pga.info/europro.asp]click here[/url] .