[Photo: Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images]
The Official World Golf Ranking lists 62 golfers with the surname “Garcia” and none ranks higher than surprise BMW Australian PGA Championship leader Sebastian Garcia.
The world No.418 blitzed the Royal Queensland layout in seven-under-par for the 15 holes he completed in the afternoon wave before storms halted play early. The Spaniard sits on a two-stroke lead over Sydney’s Daniel Gale at five-under (12 holes) then a collection of luminaries and rising stars at four-under.
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Last month Garcia won the Hangzhou Open on the HotelPlanner Tour – formerly the Challenge Tour – and today ranks as the top Garcia in golf (Sergio, incidentally, sits third). While the current iteration of the OWGR might be skewed, it’s a feather of sorts in his cap.
That win in China helped Garcia finish 10th on the season-long points list to graduate to the DP World Tour and thus gain a start this week in the co-sanctioned event. He took full advantage on Thursday.
Starting at 10th hole, Garcia rattled off four birdies in his first nine holes before adding three more on the truncated homeward journey. Armed with a more palatable morning tee-time for round two, the 36-year-old from Madrid has a good chance to widen his advantage before lunchtime tomorrow.
Gale’s round was aided by one of two aces scored by the field during the first round. He holed an 8-iron at the 154-metre 11th hole during his five-under ‘mini’-round, an ace that earned him a new BMW M5.
Former PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner Kazuma Kobori nailed the other hole-in-one of the day by one-hopping a pitching wedge at the 118-metre 17th, sparking only muted celebrations at what is the famous “Party Hole”. Incidentally, matching the feat there on Saturday would earn all registered spectators a share of a million dollars.
Gale shared 10th place at the Ford NSW Open a fortnight ago and was equal 25th last week at the Queensland PGA after a luckless run of events on the DP World Tour. Feeling more comfortable in his home country, he’s poised to take advantage of this week in the same way that several of his countryman have before, including defending champion Elvis Smylie a year ago.
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Earlier in the day, the marquee players enjoyed a soft Royal Queensland layout, where at least the opening two rounds will be played under preferred lies, and possibly all four days. Four-under 67s led the morning scores, which appeared to be only a moderate return under such favourable conditions.
With an early restart on the cards tomorrow morning, the weather and schedule of play may yet play key roles in the remaining three days of this championship.
