Sandy Pipey Young Masters 36-hole tournament

Brilliant 63 puts Paul O'Hara 6 clear at Royal 

Dornoch

Scottish young professioals' champion Paul O'Hara has made an impressive start in his bid to win the Sandy Pipey Young Masters Championship for the third year in a row at Royal Dornoch Golf Club.

Coming off a runner-up finish in the Paul Lawrie Invitational, the Clydeway Golf man, pictured, surged five shots clear of the field at the halfway stage with a brilliant round of seven-under-par 63 over a classic links, rated in the world's top 100 by many pundits.
O'Hara, who birdied the first three holes and three of the last four,  had a total bag of nine birdies in halves of 32 (three under par) and 31 (four under).
His only bogey came at the fifth.
Greg Patterson (St Andrews Links Golf Academy) is Paul's nearest rival, five shots adrift on 68, around which included seven birdies but also five bogeys in halves of 34.
O'Hara and Patterson were the only players in the big field to beat the par of 70,

SANDY PIPEY YOUNG MASTERS
Royal Dornoch GC
LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 70
63 P O'Hara (Clydeway Golf)
68 G Paterson (St Andrews Links GA)
70 C Goodwind (Duff House Royal), A Welsh (Cathkin Braes)
71 R Munro (Duddingston), J Fraser (Renaissance)
72 S Fay (Royal Dornoch), S Speirs (Swanston New), J Treasurer (Loch Ness), C Farrell (Cardross), F Robertson (Lundin), S McLaren (Blairgowrie)
73 J Bell (unatt), M Mackenzie (Edzell).
74 C Armstrong (Burntisland), C Robinson (Elie Links), C Marr (Musselburgh).
75 T Dingwall (Kemnay), C Adam (Linlithgow), D Stein (Ranfurly Castle), N Cameron (Blairgowrie).
76 S Costello (Strathaven), C Porciani (TrumpTurnberry), G M Walker (Golfing Links Org), K McNicoll (Gullane), G Forbes (Mar Hall).
77 S Clark (Golfing Links Org), F Thoson (Trump Turnberry), J Gallagher (Douglas Park), R Clarke (unatt)
78 R Black (Inverness), S Maxwell (Eastwood)
79 D Lee (American Golf), P Mitchell (Stirling).
80 P McKenna (Paul Lawrie GC), S Ross (Loudoun Castle), A Todd (Downfield), S Watters (Balbirnie Park)
81 O Robertson (Dunblane New), J Ferrie (Hilton Park), K Moran (Balbirnie Park), M Patterson (Cruden Bay), C Dick (Royal Burgess)
82 R Mackenzie-Smith (Carnegie Club), C Nisbet (Duke's), R Delaney (Loudoun Castle), B Harvey (Glasgow)
83 K Zeynalov (Portlethen)
84 A Hutchison (Douglas Park), S Milne (Balbirnie Park), G Wright (Ladybank), R Tinker (Piperdam)
86 R McKen (Trump International), D Ramsay (Moray), M Penny (Montrose).