Oxfordshire's Eddie Pepperell fired a two-under-par opening round of 70 at the British Masters today.
The Abingdon golfer, who is the defending champion, hit three birdies and a bogey at the Betfred-sponsored event at Hillside, in Southport.
Starting at the tenth, Pepperell parred his opening ten holes.
He picked up a shot at the second, only to fall back to level par two holes later.
However, a birdie at the fifth took him back to one-under.
And he picked up a further shot at the par-four eighth to finish well.
Pepperell will again be playing with Tommy Fleetwood, who is hosting the event, and Stephen Gallacher when he starts his second round at 1.30pm tomorrow.
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