Road to Mallorca leader Casey Jarvis reeled off an eagle and four birdies in his closing five holes to get to six under par and share the lead with Christofer Blomstrand after day one of the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge.
Jarvis was amongst the morning wave that made the most of the bright and breezy conditions at Newmachar Golf Club in Aberdeen, as he went in search of a second win of the season following his victory at the Euram Bank Open last month.
The 20-year-old South African set the pace with an incredible finish to his opening round 65, playing his last five holes in six-under-par, including a hole-out eagle on the par four 14th. By the end of the day he shared a one-shot lead with Swede Blomstrand, who recorded six birdies in a bogey-free round.
“I had 141yards in and holed it for eagle (at the 14th)”, said Jarvis. “It was the momentum I needed and I tried to ride that.
“I feel like things go my way in golf at the moment which is great. I’ve put in so much hard work and I’m really pleased to see it paying off.”
Home favourite David Law is amongst the strong chasing pack at five under par. The Challenge Tour graduate, who has full playing privileges on the DP World Tour, is managed by the tournament promoter, 5 Star Sports Agency, and has had the backing of title sponsor Farmfoods from his early days as a professional.
“There was a bit of rust in there but the whole point of this week was to get the rust away. I putted great which is nice as it’s the area that I’ve been missing all season and where I’ve worked hard in recent months to improve,” said Law.
“I am staying at home this week so it doesn’t feel like a normal tournament week away from the family which is nice.”
Six players, including fellow Scot Calum Fyfe, Australian Jordan Zunic, Tomas Gouveia of Portugal, Frenchman Jerome Lando-Casanova, Swede Jesper Svensson and Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Caldwell sit alongside Law in third place.
Round two begins tomorrow at 7.30am with Jarvis teeing it up alongside Italy’s Matteo Manassero and Scot Kieran Cantley at 1.10pm, and Blomstrand alongside Iceland’s Magnus Haraldur and Frenchman Sebastien Gros at 2.05pm.