DORSET'S Gary Emerson and Mark Wiggett have their work cut out to claim a share of the £2m prize-money on offer at this year's Volvo PGA Championship.
Both players have left little room for error following one-over-par opening rounds of 73 at Wentworth yesterday.
Emerson and Wiggett both trooped off the 18th green with long faces after cursing their luck on the demanding 7072-yard West Course.
But it was Emerson who had more reason to feel disappointed after missing a four-foot putt for birdie at the 17th and dropping a shot at the last.
The final two holes traditionally offer the opportunity to make up lost ground and big-hitting Emerson would have been expecting to move into red figures.
A crowd disturbance on the penultimate green, however, forced Emerson to step back from his putt while a marshall hollered for silence.
The distraction unsettled Emerson who looked back in disgust at the gallery after sliding his short putt wide of the target.
Wiggett, meanwhile, had a less adventurous time over the closing stretch by parring the last five holes.
The Dudsbury player had moved to level par with a birdie four at the 12th before giving it straight back at the next hole.
Both players were up at the crack of dawn, with Emerson in the first group to tee off at 7am while Wiggett followed just two groups and 20 minutes later.
And both men began in identical fashion with a bogey five at the first and a birdie two at the second.
Emerson, however, was the only one to go under par at any stage of his round when he birdied the 497-yard par five sixth.
But dropped shots at the seventh and the ninth hole which runs parallel to the Reading railway line derailed Emerson's brief char-ge up the leaderboard.
Emerson returned to level par with a birdie at the 11th and looked well set for a late charge before running out of steam over the closing two holes.
Wiggett, playing in his first PGA Championship, had completed the front nine in level par before dropping his only other shot of the day at the short par-three 10th.
The 37-year-old, whose only other European Tour event was at St Mellion eight years ago, looked composed on the big stage but had mixed feelings about his Wentworth debut. "I didn't feel overawed by the occasion. It was a mixed day for me really, I felt good out there and my score could and should have been better," said Wiggett.
"I hit plenty of good shots but found too many awkward lies. I'm a bit disappointed because a 73 isn't a true reflection of how well I have played," he added.
Wiggett's woes were summed up by Dudsbury member Glen Dominey who carried the West Region qualifier's bag.
"How Mark didn't shoot two or three under par today I don't know. He just didn't seem to have any luck out there," said Dominey.
Wiggett was paired with two other regional qualifiers Ian Ellis (Royal Norwich) and Daniel Greenwood (Forest Pines) who carded 73 and 71 (one under par) respectively.
Emerson, meanwhile, was paired with Desvonde Bote. The South African, cheered on by his family, led the tournament briefly after 10 holes before finishing with a respectable two-under-par 70.
The other member of the trio was Jeev Milka Singh of India who matched Emerson's 73 despite trailing the Broadstone player by several shots for the majority of the day.
"I played fine and did well enough to do alright, but just putted badly at the end of the day," said Emerson, who marched straight to the practice green to brush up on his putting before lunch.
Emerson begins his second round at 11.30am today with Wiggett once again following 20 minutes later.
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