Ryan Fox is in hot pursuit of the leaders at the English Championship after a 4-under round of 67 to be only 4 shots in arrears after the opening day.
The 33-year-old had a blistering start with 3 birdies in 3 holes on the Hanbury Manor Country Club course and was 5-under by the 12th until a bogey late in his round on the 17th.
Fox is tied for 34th with 17 other players on a day that saw the course record broken by Northern Ireland’s Cormac Sharvin who teed off in the final group in Hertfordshire and delivered a course record 63 to sit at eight under par, nudging ahead of six players locked at seven under.
The Hertfordshire Club returned to host a European Tour event for the first time in 21 years and it did not disappoint as 92 players broke par.
27-year-old Sharvin, who graduated to the European Tour after finishing the 2019 Challenge Tour season in 11th position on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, carded ten birdies and two dropped shots to take the outright lead.
“It was a nice round, played really well, didn’t do too much wrong,” Sharvin said.
“Put it on the fairway, hit a lot of good shots and holed a few putts as well and it all added up to 63. Pretty happy to start well.
“A long way to go but it’s always nice to shoot a good score on the first day and not put yourself out of it.”
Michael Campbell is tied for 92nd place on 1-under after a mixed day of 5 birdies and 4 bogeys for a round of 70.
