HotelPlanner Tour

Liam Nolan returned to form in the Delhi Challenge when he opened with a four-under 68 to lie just three shots off the pace at Classic Golf & Country Club.

After following back-to-back top-four finishes with missed cuts in Cape Town and Kolkata, the Galway man — sixth in the rankings race for 20 DP World Tour cards — (24) made five birdies to share 19th place after round one.

Scores

Sweden’s Jesper Sandborg (31) shot 65 to set the target before being joined by England’s Jamie Rutherford, Spain’s Quim Vidal and Indian duo Udayan Mane and Angad Cheema to lead by one from American Davis Bryant and Frenchman Oihan Guillamoundeguy.

Sandborg secured a return to the HotelPlanner Tour for 2025 after promotion from the Nordic Golf League.

Laytown and Bettystown’s Alex Maguire (24), who finished T46 on his seasonal debut in Kolkata last week, recovered from a double-bogey six at the 16th by making birdies at the last two holes to shoot a 71 that left him tied for 74th.

Walsh starts well in Australia

Lauren Walsh opened with a two-under 69 to trail Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz and home favourite Kirsten Rudgeley by four strokes at the Ford Women’s NSW Open at Wollongong Golf Club.

Four-time LET winner Iturrioz carded seven birdies in her six-under 65 to set the target in the morning before Rudgeley matched her in windier afternoon conditions.

Scores

They lead by a shot from LET Access Series graduate Anna Magnusson of Sweden, with Walsh tied for 19th.

Q-School graduate Anna Foster made two birdies and three bogeys in a one-over 72 to share 54th, while fellow rookie Annabel Wilson was 105th after a 75.

Meanwhile, round one of the Porsche Singapore Classic was postponed until Friday due to persistent inclement weather, which caused flooding at Laguna National.

Tom McKibbin is making his first DP World Tour appearance since his move to LIV Golf and is joined in Singapore by Conor Purcell.

Sunshine Ladies Tour - 65 for Olivia Mehaffey

Olivia Mehaffey roared home in six-under 30 to add a six-under 65 to her opening 72 in the Platinum Ladies Open on the Sunshien Ladies Tour.

The Tangragee golfer, who has only conditional status on the LET this year, moved up to tied 17th on five-under at Blair Atholl Golf and Equestrian Estate.

Scores

She’s five strokes behind South Africa’s Casandra Alexander, who shot a second successive 66 to lead by a shot on 10-under from England’s Hayley Davi, South Africa’s Tandi McCallum and Mexico’s Fernanda Lira heading into Friday’s final round.

Last year’s Irish Close champion Canice Screene, who earned conditional status at December’s LET Q-School, shot a level par 71 but missed the one-under par cut by three strokes.

Reed and Garcia start well but McDowell struggles in Open qualifying bid in Macau

Patrick Reed took a giant step towards qualifying for The Open but Graeme McDowell’s hopes of winning one of three spots at Royal Portrush via the International Series Macau suffered a blow in China.

Reed’s exemption for winning the 2018 Masters ran out at Royal Liverpool in 2023, but he’s in pole position to earn his ticket to Royal Portrush in July after opening with a seven-under 63 in the Asian Tour International Series event at Macau Golf and Country Club.

Scores

The Texan made seven birdies in a bogey-free round to lead by a shot from Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines, American Peter Uihlein and Finland’s Kalle Samooja with Spain’s Sergio Garcia just two shots off the pace after a 65 left him joint fifth in his bid to return to The Open for the first time since 2022.

McDowell had a poor day on the greens, taking 34 putts as he opened with a two-over 72 to share 111th.

The 2010 US Open champion (45) double-bogeyed the second and three-putted the third to slip to three over.

He birdied the seventh, ninth and 13th to get back to level but had two more three putts as he bogeyed the 14th, 16th and 17th before finishing with a birdie.

He can still rally in Macau or qualify for The Open via the LIV Golf individual standings or Final qualifying.

Top 10 for Mark Power on Clutch Pro Tour

Kilkenny’s Mark Power closed with a three-under 67 to finish solo eighth in the UAE Championship at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting & Golf Club in Abu Dhabi.

The former Walker Cup player (24) was four-under for the day after an eagle three at the seventh but he bogeyed the ninth and double-bogeyed the 11th before picking up shots at the 16th and 18th.

Scores

He finished three shots behind England’s Callum Farr, who shot 64 to win by a shot from compatriots Haider Hussain and Jack Cope on 12-under.

The Island’s Paul McBride (29) shot a 70 to share 15th on seven-under with John Ross Galbraith from Whitehead a shot further back, also after a 70.

Former Amateur champion James Sugrue was 43rd on two under after a 70 in his return from injury, while Portmarnock’s Brandon St John shot 73 to finish T67 on one over.

Alps Tour - Wind stops play in Tunis

High winds forced officials to suspend play in the early afternoon in the Tunisian Golf Open at The Residence Golf Tunis.

The morning starters managed to complete their rounds, but by early afternoon, the wind intensified, making play impossible.

Scores

Germany’s Malte Von Blankenfeld was four-under after seven holes when play was suspended, a shot clear of Spain’s Victor Garcia Broto, who had played just three holes.

Castle’s Robert Moran was level par after three holes, while Hugh Foley was undone by a quadruple bogey nine at the eighth and posted a one-over 73.

The Royal Dublin man got off to a flyer with four birdies in his first five holes but bogeyed the sixth and took nine at the eighth before dropping another shot at the 10th.

He re-grouped to birdie the 11th before finishing with seven pars to end his day tied for 29th alongside Michael Young (9 holes) and Ronan Mullarney (5 holes)

Kinsale’s John Murphy had a difficult day and shot a nine-over 81 to share 103rd in the 120-man field.