Australian Open: Laid-back Lincoln Tighe blasts past the big guns

Three words inspired a giantkiller on the opening day of the Australian Open.

Lincoln Tighe’s opening round for 66 was good enough to hold the lead at the Australian Open. Picture: Gregg Porteous

Three words inspired a giantkiller on the opening day of the Australian Open.

“I just say: ‘It doesn’t matter’,” world No 1022 Lincoln Tighe said after starting the tournament with a five-under-par 66.

“You need to just realise if you miss a putt or miss a shot, you still get to go home. You’re still alive. The game doesn’t affect my life.”

Tighe doesn’t say it before every shot. Just the ones that matter.

Yesterday, he reckons he said it four times.

It was more than enough as he took control of the Open on a day when the wind around The Australian Golf Club played tricks with even the biggest names.

Among those to suffer was world No 1 Jordan Spieth, who began his defence of the Stonehaven Cup with an even-par 71.

Former world No 1 Lee Westwood fared only slightly better as he signed for a 70. Adam Scott, so desperate to end his year with a win, salvaged a 71 on an afternoon where he seemed to find trouble at every turn.

Tighe somehow steered clear of the drama, his round no doubt helped by his prodigious length off the tee.

The 26-year-old, rated a $601 chance before the tournament started — one punter stands to win more than $24,000 if he maintains his grip on the lead — is regarded as one of the longest hitters on the local tour.

At the age of 11, he was out-driving his father Darryl.

He only started to find consistent length when he became a devotee of the gym around the age of 18.

After ballooning to a pudgy 115 kilograms, he dropped 27kg through sheer devotion. Since then, he has added 10kg in muscle.

At the 10th hole yesterday, he thought he mishit his tee shot and walked up to find it adjacent to the green — the hole measures 381 metres.

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“When I was about 18, I was a bigger guy,” he said. “My mates gave me a bit of a wake-up call. They said in this day and age in golf, and in everyday life, you need to be fit.

“I carry driver about 300 metres. That’s pretty solid. I can tell when I flush one. Today off 10 I thought I necked one but I hit it greenside.

“That was pretty good.”

Physically, he is a changed man. Mentally as well, thanks to the guidance of fellow professional Ben Roberts, who acts as his mind coach and swing guru. It was Roberts who came up with the mantra which allowed him to keep his nerve as he stared down some of the world’s best.

Not surprisingly, given his whopping drive, he made birdie at the 10th and added another at the 11th — his opening two holes of the day. He added another birdie on the back nine and then made four birdies in five holes on the front nine to get to six-under.

A hiccup at the 8th dropped him back to five-under but it was good enough to put him at the top of a cluttered pack heading into today’s second round.

Matt Jones was in second place at four-under par, one shot clear of former Australian Open champion Geoff Ogilvy and Taiwan amateur Chun-An Yu, who both shot 68.

Scott was three-over at the turn but changed his day around when he chipped in for a double bogey at the 9th.

Three birdies in his next five holes, including one monstrous putt, got him back to even.

“Sometimes you get those feelings that are important parts in a round or tournament,” Scott said.

“More often than not you hope those important ones are when you are coming down the stretch and you’re a chance to win, not when you’re looking at making an eight on a par-four.

“But it is important to scramble. I was just trying to give myself time ... and hit the best chip I could. I hit a really nice chip and it went in. I walked to the 10th tee kind of with my head held high after making a double. That’s a good feeling.”

None of them could match a bloke who took up the sport to spend more time with his father and dabbled in tennis before devoting himself to golf.

“This is unreal,” Tighe said.

“If someone said to me at the start of the day that you’re going to be under par in these conditions, I would have taken it. To shoot five and play solid is great.”