Result - Princes Pot Round 1. PGA. Sat 11th April.
Prince’s Pot Round 1 – Cantlay Sets the Early Pace
Greetings from Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where your travelling golf correspondent is doing his utmost to keep tabs on events at Dun Whinny while surrounded by Silk Road splendour rather than the subtleties of the PGA Centenary.
Back home, Round 1 of the Prince’s Pot produced exactly the sort of stubborn, hard-earned scoring that suggests the PGA was in no mood to hand out cheap points. On a day when anything in the 30s looked highly respectable, it was Vice Captain Michael Cantlay who emerged at the top of the heap with a winning 34 points. In a round where restraint and sound judgement were at a premium, Cantlay did enough of the sensible things and not too many of the other sort. Warm congratulations to Michael on setting the early pace.
Just a point behind came Professor Jonathan Fletcher and Allister Wallace, both posting 33 points to share second place. Fletcher continues his habit of appearing near the top of leaderboards with almost suspicious regularity, while Wallace’s 33 was an excellent return in conditions that plainly demanded patience and a thick skin. Both deserve considerable credit for staying in the hunt going into Round 2.
Just behind the leading trio sits David Logie on 32 points, alongside Scott Williamson, with Billy Z McNeill and Mark Higham on 31. In other words, this competition is far from settled. A good second round could still turn the entire leaderboard upside down.
If there was one scorecard that perfectly captured the awkward nature of the day, it was surely that of David McColgan. His round was a proper rollercoaster: a front nine of 10 Stableford points, followed by a much livelier back nine of 16, for a total of 26. There were flashes of control, moments of damage limitation, and the occasional episode best filed under “adventure golf.” In short, it was a round that summed up the PGA perfectly: never dull, rarely straightforward, and always capable of making even the best players look briefly confused.
So, after Round 1, the honours belong to Vice Captain Michael Cantlay, with Fletcher and Wallace giving chase. The scoring suggests this year’s Prince’s Pot will not be won by brute force alone. It will take nerve, discipline, and perhaps one fewer calamity than the next man.
All to play for in Round 2.
Taz
