The 25-year-old carded six birdies and eagled his final hole to take the outright lead after day one at Vierumäki Resort.

“I drove the ball very well and putted well” the Corkman said. “I think I had eight putts through nine so I one-putted every green and holed out from a bunker, so I didn’t have to use the putter too much on the front nine!”

Sugrue used borrowed clubs

Like a number of his fellow professionals across the men’s and women’s game, Sugrue’s golf clubs were lost in transit but the Irishman managed to secure a loan set from a former DP World Tour player.

“The clubs aren’t mine, I lost my clubs coming here, so I got a set off Mikko Illonen and they are very nice, I might have to hold on to them!

“Just more of the same tomorrow, I’m really comfortable with that driver, every time I tee it up I think it is going to be a good one. We’ll just see where it takes us.”

Three-way tie for second spot

Finland’s Antii Ahokas and Italian’s Fillipo Bergamaschi and Michele Ortolini are in a three way-way tie for second place after the first round after the trio carded six under par rounds of 66.

Ahokas who won twice on the Challenge Tour in 2008 before struggling to maintain consistent form for much of the follow decade gave the leader board a home flavour.

”I haven’t played in front of a crowd for a while, so I was just trying to stay in my own bubble’ he admitted.  It was something I enjoyed but at the same time I focused on my own thing, but obviously it gives you energy.

“Quite a few people here now, this tournament is a couple of weeks earlier than normal, people are still on holidays, it is a warm week.  I think we’ll get some more crowds here, which is fantastic.”

Martin Simonsen of Denmark, ranked tenth in the Road to Mallorca standings, is the pick of a bunch of players one stroke back on five under, with Spaniard, Alejandro Del Rey, the highest ranked player in the field, also well placed after an opening three under par 69.

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Kearney shot even on Thursday and did enough to stay below the cut on Friday and ensure himself two more rounds of golf.

He proved that he is deservedly the highest-ranked Irish golfer competing this weekend.

The two-time Irish PGA Championship winner is far from the lead at the Cazoo Open but has given himself a chance to lower his scores and end the weekend on a positive note.

The 71-par course claimed many casualties at the end of Round 2 on Friday.

The latest leg of the European tour has proved tough for Irish golfers with the three other Irish competitors and a Nothern Irish golfer all failing to make the cut in the tournament backed by Gareth Bale.

Gavin Moynihan endured a torrid second round to send himself home after a poor two rounds.

Moynihan shot three-over-par to add to his woes from Round 1 which saw him in need of a much-improved Friday to get to the next two rounds, but that was not to be as he posted a worse round to miss the cut by two strokes.

Amateur golfer James Sugrue’s two rounds followed a similar pattern to that of Moynihan’s with the pair both finishing Round 1 with a score of 73.

Sugrue could not salvage his weekend and plummeted further down the leaderboard with a 75-score round sealing the Mallow native’s fate with a final score of six-over.

Northern Ireland’s Cormac Sharvin also had a troublesome four-over-par round (For Sharvin it was Round 1) but posted a slight, if ineffective improvement in Round 2, ending his time in Newport with a round of 74.

Paul Dunne, who is currently 70th in the 2021 European Tour rankings had the worst weekend out of all Irish and Northern Irish golfers.

Dunne made it five missed cuts in a row after a six-over-par round two saw his hopes for extra rounds of golf go up in flames.

The poor performances are disappointing for fans from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland but, with Kearney still playing, there will be hopes for a good weekend from the Dubliner.

Niall Kearney will tee-off on Saturday at 6:16 am on Tee 11, accompanied by Bryce Easton and Steven Brown.

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