Adam Scott and Cam Smith live up to hype in opening round of the Australian PGA
An early tee-off time didn’t deter thousands flocking to Royal Queensland to see Adam Scott and Cam Smith at the Australian PGA.
Hopes of an Australian PGA Sunday showdown between Cam Smith and Adam Scott are on target after the star pair opened the tournament with impressive rounds at Royal Queensland.
Scott, the 2013 Masters winner, was the early clubhouse leader after shooting a five-under par 66, while Smith, the reigning British Open champion, was two shots back after a first-round 68.
However, by late afternoon, Scott had been upstaged by fellow Australians Min Woo Lee, Jason Scrivener and John Lyras, who led the tournament at six-under after brilliant rounds of 65.
“It was awesome,” Lee said.
“(It was) very solid. There was one mistake, a bad drive on (hole) 10, but other than it was a very solid day approach-wise, and off the tee, and a very good day on the greens, so if I can do that for the next few days, it’ll be very nice.”
Earlier, teeing off at 6am Queensland time in a marquee group that included New Zealand star Ryan Fox (one-over 72), Scott and Smith were pleasantly surprised with the thousands of fans who didn’t let the early start deter them from seeing their heroes live in action.
“It was great,” Scott said/.
“It was incredibly early, but as we were walking out to the tee people were streaming out to the golf course and so they should.
“It’s great to see everyone coming out. It’s exciting that Cam’s coming home to play off the back of the year that he’s had.
“We had a strong group. ‘Foxy’ as well has played great.”
Scott described himself as the group’s “third wheel” but he was the star of the show on Thursday with a round that included seven birdies and two bogeys.
“The conditions couldn’t be better and you want to take advantage of those morning rounds,” he said.
“Overall there was some good solid play from me today.”
Smith started slowly. Teeing off on the 10th, he was one over after nine holes, before snaring three birdies over his final nine holes.
“I definitely felt a little bit tired this morning – the brain was a little bit foggy,” the world No.3 said.
“I found it hard to really concentrate out there and commit to shots ... but it came around the back nine and finished well.
“I did what I had to do. ‘Scotty’ was playing really nice. He’s coming into some form, the ‘old fella” so he might be hard to chase down over the weekend.”
Joining Scott at five-under were Brad Kennedy. Anthony Quayle, Peter Cooke and South Korea’s Jeung-hun Wang, while a shot further back at four-under were Queenslander Maverick Antcliff, China’s Yan Wei Liu, Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune, France’s Pierre Pineau and New Zealand’s Denzel Ieremia.
“I don’t particularly love the golf course – it doesn’t really suit my eye,” said Antcliff, whose round included an eagle on the 545 par-five seventh.
“It’s in great condition though, but I’ve been playing well for a while. I just haven’t really been putting that well.
“I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work, so I’m not really surprised.”
Reigning tournament champion Jed Morgan, playing in the group behind Scott and Smith, opened up his title defence with a one-under 70.
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