Yorkshire golf: Bad weather means Rotherham's Jonathan Thomson has shorter route to possible victory

The HotelPlanner.com EuroPro Tour tournament has been reduced to a 36-hole contest after heavy and persistent rain on Thursday.

Rotherham's Thomson, just four weeks into his professional career, carded a seven-under-par 63 for his opening round on the Earl of Mar Course.

He needs to finish inside the top 10 to maintain his chances of qualifying for the season-ending Tour Championship at Desert Springs Resort.

The Yorkshireman is trailed by Billy Spooner (Woodhall Spa) in second, with five golfers sharing third having shot 66.

Thomson has played just two events, and missed the cut in both, since leaving the amateur ranks last month.

The 20-year-old teed off at the 10th in round one and made his first birdies at the 13th and 14th, which he supplemented with an eagle at the 15th.

After the turn he birdied the first and third, gave a shot back at the fourth, but then back-to-back birdies immediately followed before three pars completed the round.

“I set off pretty slowly," he said. "I hit it close on the 10th and the 11th but missed them both.

“I did the same on the next, but then on the 13th the ball started rolling and I went birdie, birdie before chipping in for eagle.

“I only turned pro four weeks ago, but I am enjoying the pro life. The amateur season had pretty much finished for me after the European Amateur Championship.

"I was going to turn pro at the end of the year for European Tour School, but managed to get a few invites on here so I decided to turn pro now.

“This week for me is all about getting to Desert Springs. I need a really high finish to get there and then anything can happen once you get there. For me, this week was about focusing on trying to get there.”

A cut to the leading 50 players and ties after the first round has been made and the final round will commence with a two-tee start at 7.45am on Friday.