LIAM Bond’s hopes of winning a second Welsh PGA Championship, 14 years after clinching his first, look remote following bogeys on the last two holes of his opening round yesterday, writes David Williams.

The slip means the St Pierre ace will start today’s final round six shots behind runaway leader Stuart Manley, the former Welsh amateur champion and Walker Cup player, who fired a spectacular 64 at Cardiff.

Bond is in joint fourth alongside the Vale’s Matthew Dearden after an opening level par 70.

Three-time former winner Simon Edwards and North Walian Andrew Barnett are tied for second five strokes adrift while Bond is joint-fourth alongside Matthew Dearden.

Parc Golf Academy’s Richard Dinsdale, the 1999 champion, put himself in contention for a top-five finish with a two-over 72.

Two birdies on the front nine were undone by a couple of double bogeys before he steadied the ship coming home. Newport’s Joe Vickery had a mixed round and finished with a 73.

Two shots further back is Celtic Manor pro Michael Hunt, whose 74 ended with three dropped shots in the last five holes, while St Pierre’s Mathew Partridge returned the same score for a share of 15th place.

Paul Mayo, the winner in 1990 and 1991, fired a five-over 75.

Newport’s former British Amateur champion largely had a day to forget other than a solitary birdie at the short ninth.

St Pierre-based Craig Dun sits alongside Mayo and six other men a full 11 strokes off the lead and another Celtic Manor professional, Anthony Williams, is on +10.