RECORD-BREAKING Jon Le Roux won the Hampshire MatchPlay qualifying competition by a distance at Royal Winchester yesterday - then landed potentially the toughest first round draw.

When the Hampshire PGA event actually goes into matchplay at Royal Winchester on June 15, Le Roux must play Mike Wheeler and that was a bit like being handed the short straw.

Former champion Wheeler is the tournament professional at Royal Winchester so knows the course better than most. And in yesterday's qualifier, he was one of the few players who got anywhere near Le Roux's qualifying score.

The Worldham Park club professional lowered the course record by two shots with a brilliant six-under-par 65 - five better than Wheeler and Romsey Club pro Mark Desmond who were in joint second place.

Le Roux started like a train, birdieing the first two holes and steamed on, making light of the hard greens which many of the fancied men in the field just couldn't handle.

European Challenge Tour players Richard Bland (77), Rob Edwards (76) and Kevin Saunders (74), and Gary Stubbington (76), who is playing in this week's Volvo PGA Championships, were among the non-qualifiers.

In all Le Roux made eight birdies, four going out, four coming in. He dropped shots at only two holes, the 465-yard sixth and the the 410-yard 15th.

The 15 qualifiers to join holder Danny Harris for the first round of matchplay were: 65 Jon Le Roux (Worldham Park), 70 Mike Wheeler (Royal Winchester), Mark Desmond (Romsey), 71 Martin Kimberley (Tylney Park), Martin Balfour (Royal Winchester), 72 Greg Hughes (Petersfield), Steve Parker (New Forest), John Lovell (Brokenhurst Manor), James Ablett (Alresford). 73 Simon Allan (Royal Winchester), Philip Bryden (Tournebury), John Hay (Waterlooville), Graham Cowley (Army), Jason Neve (Cams Hall), Richard Adams (South Winchester).

First round draw: Neve v Cowley, Lovell v Kimberley, Parker v Harris (holder), Ablett v Hughes, Bryden v Adams, Malfour v Allan, Wheeler v Le Roux, Hay v Desmond. The Hampshire Matchplay final is on June 26. Jon Le Roux finished in a four-way tie for first place in the PGA South Region qualifier for the Glenmuir Club Professional Championship.

The Worldham Park Club pro carded a one-under-par 71 at Wildernesse near Sevenoaks but had to concede overall victory to the former Bramshott Hill assistant Hogan Stott (Laleham) who had the best inward half of 33.

Unluckiest man in the field was another former Hampshire PGA campaigner Bob Cameron who thought he had won after shooting a 69.

But he later noticed his playing partner had wrongly marked his score at one of the holes and Cameron who is the professional at Sundridge Park, was disqualified.

The top 14 at Worldham Park go through to championship proper in Kings Lynn from June 8-11.

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