Thomson lands eagle to have Yorkshire’s loudest say at Brabazon

Thomson shot an excellent two-under-par 70 in English golf’s flagship stroke play event to stand just one shot off the lead held by two fellow Englishmen – Ben Taylor and Jordan Wrisdale – and Austrian Lukas Lipold.

Daniel Brown (Bedale) and Meltham’s Jamie Bower are the next best of the 12-strong Yorkshire contingent on 73.

Thomson’s round began with two pulled shots and after the second of these he was apprehensive that he might have lost his ball. He found it, got down in three from the rough and then responded quickly with a birdie at the next.

“It was a good bogey in the end at the first and after I got a good tee shot away at the second, I was 120 yards out and got it to 20ft putt for the birdie,” said Thomson.

“It got me back on the train again after the first when I was lucky to find my ball from the second shot.”

The bounce-back birdie offered proof that the 6’ 9” county player had not been fazed by his inauspicious start and the evidence was overwhelming when he eagled the par-5 sixth hole.

“I tend to stay pretty level-headed - you have to because if you get angry with yourself it’s only going to move onto the next shot and the one after that and it can escalate out of hand,” he commented.

“I got a great drive away at the sixth, had a 5-iron in my hand for my second shot and hit it to about 20ft and rolled it in down the hill.”

Having gone out in two-under 34, Thomson came home in level-par 36 with one birdie and one bogey.

“I left quite a few out there and didn’t hole any putts on the back nine,” he said.

“I was hitting it closer on the back nine than I had the front, but was lipping out all the time. It did get a little frustrating on the back nine, but I just have to dig in there and keep going.”

Bedale’s Brown was out in 39 and stumbled once more at the 10th. But then he produced three birdies in four holes to be two under par for the homeward stretch.

Bower’s 73 was a mirror image of Brown’s. He was three under through six holes but bogeyed the ninth for 34 out. He dropped three shots coming in – including a double bogey at the 12th – and he and Brown are tied for 26th.

English amateur champion Nick Marsh (Huddersfield) had four bogeys and one birdie in his 75, one shot better than Ben Brewster (Bawtry) and Martin Brown (Pike Hills).

Brewster was level after six, but then dropped shots at consecutive holes. A birdie at 11 was undermined by a double bogey at 14 and a single at 16.

Brown had two birdies in his 76, but shipped three shots in his last six holes.

Tankersley Park’s Lewis Hollingworth had three birdies in his 79, but squandered four shots on just one hole with an eight at the 10th hole.

Joe Dean and Nathan Fell (both Lindrick) and Ben Hutchinson (Howley Hall) all shot 80.

Dean did have the satisfaction of emulating Thomson’s eagle at the sixth, but the tone for Hutchinson’s round was set with bogeys at the opening two holes.

Bondhay’s Daniel Wasteney was only one over at the turn, but seven shots got away from him on the last four holes for an 81 while Shipley’s William Whiteoak was two shots worse off thanks in the main to issues with the course’s three par-5s which he played in 23 shots, including a 10 at the 17th.