MURRAY URQUHART (76) LOOKS OUT OF THE HUNT FOR IFQ PLACE
IN ROYAL BIRKDALE OPEN

Young gun Josh Cunliffe enjoyed a dream start to his Open championship qualifying campaign, but his ambitions may be thwarted by the experienced pack following behind on a jam-packed first round International Final Qualifying-Africa leaderboard.
Cunliffe opened his crusade with a superb six-under-par 65 for a one shot lead round the tough East Course lay-out at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, but swing tips from Alan Michell and Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke may tilt the scales in favour of Warren Abery or Brandon Pieters in Wednesday's final round.
Abery, the winner in 2006, dropped only one shot on his way to five-under-par 66, while Benoni's big-hitting Pieters capitalized on a swing tip from Clarke to cruise home and join Abery and Justin Walters of England in joint second.
Lurking one shot further behind is 2007 joint winner Doug McGuigan, who entered from "Scotland" but may be changing that to "South Africa" shortly, and former number one South African amateur, Charl Coetzee.
Northern Open champion Murray Urquhart from Inverness has little or not hope of being one of the four leaders at the end of 36 holes, who will qualify for the Open championship. Urquhart, who has a player's card for the South African Sunshine Tour, had a five-over-par round of 76 and has only two players below him on the scoreboard with one round to go.
European Tour winner Darren Fichardt is fully recovered from a wrist injury and returned a three-under 68 to tie for seventh with, among others, Italy's Eduardo Mollinari and Terry Pilkidaris from Australia - a qualifier last year.
Twenty-three year old Cunliffe got off to a fast start with a 10ft birdie after a solid five-iron approach at the tough opening hole. He finished in style with an eagle 3, again setting up a formality putt with a five-iron approach from 250 yards after splitting the fairway from the tee.
"I never expected to be leading, that's for sure," said a surprised Cunliffe. "I birdied the first hole during the Johannesburg Open, but then messed things up for myself. Today I just wanted to get off to a good start and keep the momentum going."
Cunliffe made it through the first 12 holes without dropping a shot, enjoying a run of three birdies from eight to 10, but he ran into trouble after the turn.
He managed to squeeze a birdie between bogeys at the 13th and 15th and rebounded from a third dropped shot at the 16th with a birdie-eagle finish.
"It's just really nice to walk away knowing that I came to play well and I can walk away, knowing I've done a good job. Every guy I know on Tour dreams of playing in the Open and I am no different. It would be a dream come true."
Abery's turn of luck came from a swing tip from room-mate Michell, who has the reputation as one of the best technical advisers on Tour, while Pieters took advantage of playing with Clarke during the Johannesburg Open and a piece of advice offered to him by the former Ryder Cup player on Saturday.
"Alan (Michell) gave me a tip to stand taller, stay more level through the swing and it made a huge difference to my game today," said Abery, who tied for 11th with Walters after Sunday's final round of the European and Sunshine Tour co-sanctioned event at the same venue.
Abery faltered only once with a bogey at the second before posting loops of 34 and 32 for his 66. "I have been putting really well with the claw grip, but something was off all week. Even when I was putting the scores on the board, I couldn't get excited, because I felt uncomfortable with my swing."
Pieters, who joined Gavan Levenson's coaching school at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington, has seen a big improvement but playing with the Ulsterman has put things in a new perspective.
Employing Clarke's advice to hit the ball lower and change the shape of his bread-and-butter shot from left to right - hitting with a fade - Pieters spent the better part of Sunday getting his game ready for today.
"I also watched Darren closely when I played with him last week. These guys come onto the course with a game-plan and they stick to it, no matter what. They know exactly where they are aiming; they play to the safe side of the green and mostly, they stay out of trouble.
"I tend to get too aggressive but combined with the work I've done with Gavan, this is just the kind of start I needed."
South-African born Walters, who lives in the States but plays under the English flag, was frustrated to lose momentum for a third day running coming down the back-nine.
"I did the same for two rounds at the Joburg Open - starting fast and solid, then throwing it away on the back. I was really frustrated with myself after the back-to-back bogeys at 13 and 14, but at least I managed to erase the damage," said the former Palmer Cup player, who birdied 16 and 18 for his 66.
"The Open is really close to my heart and I would dearly love to tee it up at Royal Birkdale. Tomorrow I just have to come to terms with the holes after the turn to give myself a chance of gaining a spot."
IFQ - Africa will be decided over 36-holes of strokeplay - 18 holes today, Tuesday, and 18 holes on Wednesday, 16 January 2007 - with no cut. The leading four players will qualify for The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale from July 17 to 20.
First round scores:
Players from South Africa unless stated.
Par 71 (only leading four players to qualify after 36 holes).
65 Josh Cunliffe
66 Warren Abery, Justin Walters (Eng), Brandon Pieters
67 Doug McGuigan, Charl Coetzee
68 Darren Fichardt, Keith Horne, Alex Haindl, Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Ulrich van den Berg, Tyrone van Aswegen
69 Hennie Otto, Marc Cayeux (Zim), Adilson da Silva (Bra), Steve Basson, Peter Karmis, Trevor Fisher Jnr
70 Gareth Paddison (Nzl), Robert Wiederkehr (Swi), Dion Fourie, Peter Kaensche (Nor), Desvonde Botes, James Kamte, Vaughn Groenewald
71 Andre Bossert (Swi), Fredrik Widmark (Swe), Bradford Vaughan, Wallie Coetsee
72 Dean Lambert, George Coetzee, Steve Alker (Nzl), Chris Swanepoel, David Park (Wal)
73 Michiel Bothma, Magnus Persson (Swe), Albert Pistorius, Mark Murless, Alan Michell, Tongo Charamba (Zim), Martin Maritz, Wayne de Haas
74 Jaco Van Zyl, Neil Schietekat, Andre Cruse, Titch Moore, Ross Wellington, Olivier David (Fra), Ryan Tipping, Jean Hugo, Kalle Brink (Swe)
75 Edrich Jansen, Alessio Bruschi (Ita), Grant Muller
76 Nic Henning, Henk Alberts, Murray Urquhart (Sco)
77 Lars Brovold (Nor)
78 Divan van den Heever
Retired: Omar Sandys, Jake Roos