Moor Park golfers Callum Shinkwin and Matt Wallace had to settle for a level-par start as the run-in to the climax of the European Tour season got under way in Turkey.

Both players fired a round of 71 to finish the opening day of the Turkish Airlines Open in a tie for 42nd place, seven shots adrift of a three-way tie for the lead.

The Regnum Carya Resort tournament is the first of three premier Rolex Series events that conclude the European Tour calendar and is restricted to a field of 78, with no halfway cut.

Bushey professional Shinkwin, who is 38th on the Race to Dubai standings, began his round from the 11th and went ‘out’ in a two-under par score of 35 after birdies at the par five 15th and par four 17th.

A double bogey five at the second dropped the 24-year-old back to even, but he made a birdie three at the fourth, only to finish with a bogey four on eight.

With only the top-60 in the Race to Dubai assured of a place at the season-ending World Tour Championship later this month, club-mate Wallace is tantalisingly close in 61st.

The 27-year-old also began his campaign from the 11th and he had an up-and-down ‘front’ nine, with birdies on his par four first hole, par three 14th and the 15th offset by dropped shots at the par four 13th, 16th and 17th holes.

Another bogey five at the third dropped Wallace back to one-over, but the Pinner professional ensured he finished the round on even-par with a birdie two on the sixth.