Jack Doherty’s three under par 69 remained good enough for the outright lead as the first round of the NH Collection Open was completed in Spain.
After play had been delayed by two hours and 40 minutes because of heavy rain, Doherty overcame strong winds to card a three under par 69 to lead by one from Welshman Bradley Dredge after day one.
The Scot came through The European Tour Qualifying School in November at the 12th attempt, but has only made one cut so far this season, finishing joint 63rd in the Tshwane Open.
Half the 144-man field returned to complete their second rounds this morning, and Doherty was briefly caught when Tjaart van der Walt advanced to three under through 13 holes, but a bogey at the eighth – his 17th – saw him the group of players tied for second after recording two under par rounds of 70.
Dredge and van der Walt were joined by Italian Marco Crespi, while Swede Jens Dantorp birdied the second hole of his second round to make it a four-way tie.
Another 11 players were on one under, amongst them former Ryder Cup star David Howell and leading Spaniard Adrian Otaegui.
With Doherty not teeing off until late afternoon, Crespi and Chile’s Felipe Aguilar were able to make their way to the top of the leaderboard.
Crespi, who had almost as long a wait as Doherty to make The European Tour as he came through Qualifying School at the 11th attempt, reached five under with birdies at the tenth, 14th, and 15th.
Aguilar also had three birdies on the way out to reach four under, but he bogeyed the first as Crespi double bogeyed the 18th to leave both level with Doherty on three under.
Welsh pair Dredge and Rhys Davies and England’s Oliver Fisher were all on two under, with Dredge also not due to start his second round until late in the day.
