Jack McDonald shares lead with a 65 in Alps Tour Finale

Daniel Young's 67 gives him share of fourth place

ALPS TOUR NEWS RELEASE

Perfect golfing conditions prevailed during the opening round of the Alps Tour Grand Final at Golf des Iles Borromees, Italy today. The lightest of breezes and sunshine met the 45 players battling for the last tournament of the season.

It was the 24-year-old Scot from Ayrshire, Jack McDonald, pictured above, who took the clubhouse lead early on with a six- under 65 while compatriot Daniel Young from Perth shared fourth place with a 67. McDonald's scorecard included three bogeys, five birdies and two eagles, coming on the 6th where he chipped in from the front of the green and  the 11th where he put a 5 iron to 20 feet and holed the putt. McDonald said: “I got off to quite a poor start, I was a couple over after 5 and then eagled 6 and birdied 7 which got me going. I managed another eagle on 11, then made some solid birdies and tap in pars. "I like the course. It’s nice. There are a few tricky tee shots but if you get through them, there are a lot of chances, and the greens are great as well.”

McDonald had a glittering amateur career, and followed in his grandfather’s footsteps by being part of a victorious Walker Cup team in 2014.

By coincidence, sharing the same birthday as McDonald, 12 February 1993, Antoine Rozner, pictured right, also carded a six-under 65 including one double bogey, three bogeys and an incredible 11 birdies. “It was a crazy round, I don’t know if I have made that many birdies in a round before. I made too many mistakes and put the ball in wrong spot and you just can’t do that on this course.  "I am very, very happy to make 11 birdies, tomorrow I aim to cut out the errors.” Rozner, an Alps Tour rookie this season, who is currently third on the order of merit heading into this week, is looking for his first win of the year having achieved five top ten finishes from 13 tournament starts in 2017.

Frenchman Rozner is in good company at the top of the leaderboard with compatriots, Leo Lespinasse in third place on -5 and Leonard Bem in fourth on minus 4. Perthshire's Daniel Young, pictured right, is a second Scot in the mix with a four-under 67. The 2015 South African amateur champion while a member of Craigie Hill Golf Club, is sharing fourth place in a field of 45.  players. Young had birdies at the fourth, short fifth, long ninth, 10th, long 11th and 16th but he bogeyed the second and long sixth in halves of 35 and 32. The top five players on the order of merit at the end of the Grand Final will receive their Challenge Tour card, which adds to the excitement of the last tournament of the 2017 season. Rozner and McDonald will be playing the second round together, teeing off last as there is a daily re-draw. Tee times start at 8:30 with the final match teeing off at midday local time.   FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD par 71 65 Jack McDonald (Scotland), Antoine Rozner (France)). 66 Leo Lespinasse (France) 67 Leonard Bem (France), Daniel Young (Scotland), James Sharp (England), Xavier Poncelet (France), Lukas Nemecz (Austria). TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES CLICK HERE Credit photos of Jack McDonald and Antoine Rozner @Tristan Jones Photography/Alps Tour