John Parry mounted a major offensive on Castle Stuart yesterday and surged to the head of the field during the first round of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.
In the inviting, calm conditions which eventually led to 117 players, out of a starting line-up of 156, breaking par, the Englishman set the standard with a fine eight-under 64 to finish a stroke clear of countryman Simon Khan. Phil Mickelson, the four-time major champion, lurks in third on 66 sharing that spot with a posse that also includes Scotsman Chris Doak.
Parry, the former Walker Cup player who won on the European Tour in 2010, has struggled to find his form this season after regaining his playing rights at the qualifying school. The 26-year-old from Harrogate earned a place in last month's US Open at Merion and, having finished in a tie for 28th there on his major debut, the former Spanish Amateur champion believes that can help turn his fortunes around.
Parry, who launched his assault with back-to-back birdies on his first two holes, said: "I think the US Open was the catalyst for me playing better and making cuts. It's an event renowned for being the toughest of the year and you know that if you can compete in that, then you can compete anywhere. It's been good for the confidence."
Parry lost his full card at the end of the 2012 season but believes he has learned some important lessons ahead of another battle to safeguard his status at the top table. He added: "I think last year I maybe panicked a bit coming into the last few events of the year because I knew I was struggling. Now I know what it's about and I'm just trying to make sure I constantly do all the right things."
Mickelson, the world No.8, bounced back from a bogey on his opening hole to post a six-under 66 but admitted he should have been even lower. "I'll certainly take 66," he said, "but there was a chance today to go really low. There were opportunities to pick up maybe four or five shots that I let go and I've just go to get a little sharper."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article