Paul Dunne made a sensational start to his professional career at Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, carding a hole-in-one in the opening round as he shot a eight-under par 64 which earned him a share of the lead.
Starting on the back nine, Dunne’s immediate start was an inauspicious one, with the Greystones man registering a bogey on his first hole.
The 22-year-old captured the public’s imagination with his stellar performance at the Open at St Andrews in July and leapt into the limelight once more by making a first-ever hole-in-one at the 15th at Kingsbarns as he aced a five-iron from 205 yards.
Further birdies followed for Dunne, who is only in the field due to the largesse of a sponsor.
"I kind of needed it," Dunne said afterwards.
"I got off to a bit of a ropey start. I was hitting a lot of poor full shots. My putter was kind of saving me and it was nice to get a hole-in-one. It was exactly as I pictured it.
"I tried to start it at the left edge of the green and let the wind drift it and I thought I hit it close. When I saw it drop, it was great. Nice little bonus there. I played some good golf from then on in. Happy with my score.
"I've been looking forward to getting started as a pro for a while. No better place to do it than on a links-style course like this. All three courses are in fantastic condition.
"My putter was kind of saving me and it was nice to get a hole-in-one. It was exactly as I pictured it"
"Just looking at St Andrews (in practice), it looks a lot different. There are not all the massive stands from the Open but it brings back playing it, recent memories, and hopefully I can make some more like I did the first three days in the Open."
Dunne’s sits alongside Walker Cup colleague Jimmy Mullen - another professional debutant - and Sweden's Kristoffer Broberg atop the leaderboard, although the latter's 64 was the more meritorious as it came at the more challenging St Andrews.
Soren Kjeldsen, Richard Bland and Anthony Wall all shot rounds of 65 at Kingsbarns to share fourth, while Marcus Fraser was best of the rest courtesy of a 66 at the same course.
Peter Lawrie is in a tie for eighth place after a 67 at Kingsbarns, while Graeme McDowell is a shot further back on four under after a 68, the joint best score of the day at Carnoustie alongside Martin Kaymer.
Damien McGrane and Michael Hoey were two under at Kingsbarns with Kevin Phelan one under at the same course.
Darren Clarke was a one-under 71 at Carnoustie and Gary Hurley 73 at St Andrews.
Shane Lowry (+2), Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington (+3) all struggled at Carnoustie.
Paul Dunne's 64th (and final) shot of the day. #DunhillLinks http://t.co/3Cuf5i8jmB
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) October 1, 2015
Joint-leader Mullen joined the paid ranks after contributing four points to September's record victory over the United States at Royal Lytham, becoming the first Britain and Ireland player to compile a perfect 4-0 record since Paul Casey and Luke Donald in 1999.
And the 21-year-old carried on from where he left off with eight birdies, an eagle and two bogeys.
"It's great," said Mullen.
"I didn't quite expect it obviously, to shoot eight under first time out. But Pablo (Larrazabal) helped me along and the two amateurs we were playing with, Miguel (Duenas) and my partner, Pascal (Alfaro) are just really nice guys. It was just a jolly out there really.
"Only played one round, so I wouldn't say it's easy. I've got a lot of learning to do but what I did as an amateur worked, so I didn't see any reason to change it.
"I've only played Kingsbarns once. I've played St Andrews lots of times and played Carnoustie five times in a year in the British Amateur, so I know those well. Carnoustie is always tough no matter what conditions you play in. I think it could be almost won or lost around Carnoustie, really.
"I'm happy I'm playing it last so I can build some confidence up and hopefully play well again at St Andrews tomorrow, shoot a good score, and really to go to Carnoustie knowing I'm playing and swinging it well."
