They say timing is everything. And so it proved for South Korea’s Byeong Hun An, who putted out for a 5-under 67 to take the day-1 lead at the 2018 Emirates Australian Open at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney.
The man affectionately known in western parts as “Ben” had barely tapped in for par on his last hole when the sunny blue skies that greeted him for much of his round took a nasty shade of grey, just in time for the afternoon pairings headlined by marquee American signing Matt Kuchar.
“It was weird … when I started, it was nice and I guess sunny,” An said after his round. “It was a little breezy, but it wasn’t that bad, it was playable. Then got to the last hole and it came out of nowhere, started blowing a little harder and raining a little bit. So I was glad I finished before all this came.”
And “all that” came all right. Blustery winds and persistent rain dampened much if the afternoon action and separated the contenders from the pretenders in what was, at times, utter carnage.
Defending champion Cameron Davis, fresh off securing his PGA Tour card after a stellar Web.com Tour campaign, opened his championship with a quadruple-bogey eight on the first hole, and backed up that shaky start with a double-bogey six at the second and then a bogey at the difficult third.
“To be honest, I had no idea what was going on with the first three,” admits Davis. “I was trying really hard and probably trying a bit too hard. A little bit nervous obviously. As soon as I heard my name on the first tee, legs were a little bit jelly and tried to hit it a little too hard probably.”
At 4-over he is certainly not out of the tournament.
2014 Asia-Pacific Amateur champion Antonio Murdaca achieved every golfer’s nightmare at the first, chalking up double figures and he never recovered, signing off for a 14-over 86.
And then there was 2012 Australian Open champion at this very venue, Peter Senior, the straight-shooting veteran who has made a career out of hanging tough. He couldn’t do any better than an 8 at the first, and has plenty of work to do Friday at 9-over.
Kuchar, who only landed in Sydney in time for a practice hit on Wednesday after a 14,000km dash from Mexico after winning the PGA Tour’s Mayakoba Classic, showed his class in the inclement conditions, firing a 2-under-par round and avoiding any major damage on a course he hasn’t set foot on since the 2011 Australian Open where he missed the cut.
“They were very tough conditions,” says Kuchar. “That first hole was playing so hard and I was thinking we’re in for a long day. It was tough. Thankfully, I escaped with a bogey on the first hole and played some pretty good golf from then on in.
“The course is in great shape, fun to play. Greens have the most undulation of any greens I’ve ever seen, so it was really important to try to get the ball in the right area on the greens to give yourself a decent putt.”Â
Trailing 27-year-old An are Western Australian professional Matt Jager and 22-year-old Victorian amateur tyro David Micheluzzi, who both shot 4-under rounds of 68.
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