Ryan takes route 66

RYAN O’Neill used to dream about playing football for his home town team Wigan Athletic.

But his hopes were shattered when the Premier League club he turned out for at centre back in the youth side released him as a 16-year-old.

And that was almost as big a disappointment when he did not make the grade with Wigan Warriors Rugby League.

Sport-mad O’Neill picked himself up off the canvas and tried his hand at golf and after going under the tutelage of Alan Crompton, a coach as nearby Haigh Hall, he turned professional.

“I used to play occasionally when I had some spare time but then took the game more seriously when I kicked football and rugby into touch,” said the 22-year-old Penwortham assistant.

“I got down to one handicap as an amateur and I pushed on from there,” he added after storming to a career best six-under-par 66 in the De Vere PGA North Region Championship first round at Blackpool resort Heron’s Reach.

He grabbed seven birdies and his one error was a three-putt bogey at the 201-yard seventh as he led by a shot from 21-year-old Tom Murray, assistant at Didsbury and son of European Tour winner Andy, and Morpeth’s David Clark.

Murray’s already won three professional events in two seasons as a professional and, like O’Neill, this was his first Order of Merit tournament.

“People will always compare me with my dad but I don’t live in his shadow,” he said after his five-birdie haul.

“My short game usually gets me out of trouble but today I hit 17 greens in regulation,” he added.

Clark reeled off seven birdies but admitted he “got lucky” at times, saving par at the 10th with a 20-foot putt after a couple of wayward strokes.

“All my bad shots stayed in play which made the difference,” he reflected.

Waterton Park’s Lee Collinson, another trainee pro, led the Yorkshire challenge with 71. Defending champion, Lindrick’s John King, was a shot behind him.

Meanwhile, it was not so much a baptism of fire but more of a learning curve for Darlington assistant Laura Harvey, the first women to play in a North Region Order of Merit event.

After returning an 80, the 24-year-old said: “The experience won’t put me off playing against the men and I know have the ability to improve my game.

“It was good to watch them and although they always outdrove me I was not concerned. My short game let me down and I made a few mistakes with my irons.”

Laura confirmed she will return to the resort in August for the James Brearley Lancashire Open at Blackpool North Shore.

LEADERS: 66 Ryan O’Neill (Penwortham); 67 Tom Murray (Didsbury), David Clark (Morpeth); 68 Barry Taylor (Houghwood); 69 David Shacklady (Mossock Hall), Tom Minshull (Delamere Forest); 69 David Corsby (Fleetwood); 70 David Smith (Swinton Park), Will Barnes (Garstang), V Guest (Teesside).