JAMIE Moul of Stoke by Nayland and Lawrence Dodd from Bury St Edmunds made nervous starts to their debut on the PGA European Tour in South Africa yesterday.

By Tony Garnett

JAMIE Moul of Stoke by Nayland and Lawrence Dodd from Bury St Edmunds made nervous starts to their debut on the PGA European Tour in South Africa yesterday.

Moul ended seven over par in his first round which leaves him with a massive task today if he is to make the cut. Dodd was four over par when fading light brought a halt to proceedings. He will complete his final two holes in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek at Mpumalanga at 7.30am today.

On a breezy day Moul dropped a shot at the 418-yard opening hole but pulled back to level par with his only birdie at the 542-yard par-five second.

The damage was done with bogeys at the sixth and seventh followed by a double bogey at the 475-yard par-four ninth. Two more shots were dropped on the back nine to leave a seven over par 79 putting him tied 130th in a field of 156.

Dodd, with a lunch-time start, made a roller-coaster start to his European Tour career. A dropped shot at the first, birdie at the second, a triple bogey seven at the third and another birdie at the fourth left him two over. Then he had a run of nine pars. A bogey at the 14th was followed by another at the 16th when it was getting dark and there was drizzle in the air.

It will be a hectic second day for Dodd. Two holes at 7.30 will be followed by an 8.30 start to his second round from the 10th tee. Moul is scheduled to tee off at the 10th at 12.30.

The Suffolk challenge was not helped by both players missing one day of practice because their original flight to South Africa was cancelled.

First round leader was Welshman Sion Bebb who finished in ninth place on the Tour School. After his five under round of 67 he said: “It was very difficult out there. The wind was swirling around everywhere.”