NORTH Yorkshire king of golf clubs Simon Dyson lived up to his billing as the top player in the field with a first-round 69 in the St Omer Open in northern France.

Dyson is the only player from the top 115 on last year's Order of Merit competing in France, with the cream of Europe playing in the US Open and the other big names shunning the first prize of £46,000.

Though the prize-money on offer was not as big as previous European Tour events, Dyson was just glad to post some decent form playing only his second event in seven weeks after suffering a broken bone in his hand when it was trapped in a car door.

That injury forced him to miss five of the last six lucrative events on the European Tour. Last week he missed the cut in the British Masters at the Forest of Arden, but he bounced back with two-under par 69 putting him just four shots adrift of leader going into today's second round.

Dyson opened with a birdie on the tenth, his opening hole yesterday. Another birdie on the 13th took him to two-under, but a dropped shot on the 16th saw him to the turn in 34, one-under.

The Malton and Norton 25-year-old suffered another bogey on the third hole dropped him back to level par. But sharp short game was making up for some errors off the tee and birdies at the fifth and seventh were followed by a par on the ninth, his last hole, after escaping from a green-side bunker.

Enthused Dyson: "The short game was certainly pretty good. I was still a bit rusty but only had 27 putts and I'm quite pleased with the score."

Former Heworth pro Neil Cheetham carded a 71.

Malton and Norton's English matchplay champion Emma Duggleby's bid to win the British Ladies Open Amateur championship ended in the first matchplay round.

She was beaten 3 and 1 by Sweden's Louise Stahle at Lindrick.

Updated: 11:16 Friday, June 13, 2003