England's Joe Ferguson shot a round of five-under 67 to take the lead after the first round of the Irish Amatuer Open at Carton House.
Ferguson got off to a perfect start with a birdie on the first hole and hit a further five birdies with the sole blemish on his card coming at the par four eighth - the toughest hole on the course on day one, averaging 4.7 strokes.
Ferguson leads Ireland's top challenger Darren Crowe of Dun Murray who shot 68 with Seamus Power of West Waterford a stroke further back after a 69. Ferguson, Crowe and Power are the only players to break par.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old prodigy Rory Mc Illroy shot a dissapointing round of 77 today.
First round scores
67 J Ferguson
68 D Crowe
69 S Power
72 T Dykes, C Smith, G Hall, A Lehtinen, P Purdy
73 R Williams, M Campbell, M McGeady, G Murray, S Crowe, N Edwards, M Merilainen, A Gee, T Cruz, J Ruth, J King, D Finn, C Doran, N Grant, R Ramsay, A McArthur
75 N Drane, L Corfield, S Benson, L Saltman, M Collins, E Kennedy, P Devine, F Praegant, C Martin, E Richardson
