West Waterford’s Gary Hurley and Naas’ Jonathan Yates are just a shot off the lead after opening with five-under 67s in the Emilia Romagna Alps Tour Grand Final in Modena.

Ranked fourth in the Order of Merit with the top five earning Challenge Tour cards after this week’s season-ending event, Hurley turned in level par before racing home in five-under 31 to finish the day tied for second with Yates, just a shot behind Austria’s Lucas Lipold.

“Today was a good round, a nice finish,” said Hurley, who finished with three successive birdies in a seven-birdie round. “I played okay, I hit some nice shots, I hit some funny shots. I definitely left a few shots out there today but then it gave me a few shots coming in which was nice. Today was a good day. It definitely was a good start.”

Scores

Hurley will stick to his mantra of staying in the moment and he has a fellow Irishman for company after Yates. who is 20th in the Order of Merit, birdied the last two holes in a bogey-free round as he seeks a win that would catapult him onto the Challenge Tour.

“Today was very enjoyable playing with Manuel (Morugan), we had a stress-free round with a lot of fairways and a lot of greens,” Yates said. “I played better around the turn but unfortunately missed a few putts. However, it was nice to get rewarded towards the end of the round and finish with two birdies. Overall it was a good solid round.

“I’m looking forward. I’m just looking to win, I have nothing to lose and nothing to gain so I’m just trying to win.”

Mallow’s James Sugrue also birdied the last three holes but he only undid some damage and lies tied 37th on two-over after a 74 that began with four dropped shots in his first four holes.