Aussie duo Cameron Percy and Mark Hensby were among just nine players who broke par on day one of the Kaulig Companies Championship at Firestone Country Club in Ohio.
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Percy (pictured) and Hensby both shot rounds of 1-under 69 to start the third senior major championship of the year, two strokes off the lead jointly held by Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen (67) and Argentine Ricardo Gonzalez (67).
Tied for 11th in this event 12 months ago, Percy returned to Firestone on the back of a tie for seventh at the Senior PGA Championship, his best result to date in one of the senior majors.
A bogey at the first was something of an inauspicious start for the 51-year-old Victorian but he hit back soon after with birdie at the par-4 fourth.
He turned in even par after cancelling out a bogey at six with birdie at the par-3 seventh and then moved into red figures with birdie at the par-4 10th.
Birdie at the par-4 14th briefly gave Percy a glimpse at the top of the leaderboard before a dropped shot at the par-4 17th saw him end the day two off the lead.
Hensby is also in the mix after a round consisting of three birdies, two bogeys and 13 pars, including eight of nine on the back nine.
Making his fourth start in the event, Hensby was 1-under early courtesy of birdie at the par-4 third but turned in even par after bogeys at six and nine along with a birdie at the par-3 seventh.
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On a day in which he hit just 10 of 18 greens in regulation, Hensby’s scrambling was exceptional, getting up-and-down six of eight times, his birdie at the par-4 14th putting him in a tie for sixth alongside Percy.
Richard Green and Steve Allan are the next best of the nine-strong Aussie contingent, tied for 17th after rounds of 1-over 71.
Green bogeyed the final hole to drop outside the top 10 late while Allan recovered from a wild start to also post 1-over.
Pars were on hiatus for Allan to start Round 1, making double-bogey at the first, two straight birdies and then a three-hole stretch on the bogey train to be 3-over through six holes.
Two pars and a birdie at the par-4 eighth saw Allan head to the back nine 2-over, birdies at 14 and 17 elevating the 2002 Australian Open champion to within four strokes of the lead.
Round 1 Australasian scores
T3 Steven Alker (NZ) 68
T6 Cameron Percy 69
T6 Mark Hensby 69
T17 Richard Green 71
T17 Steve Allan 71
T29 Michael Wright 72
T29 David Bransdon 72
T36 Stuart Appleby 73
T36 Greg Chalmers 73
T56 Rod Pampling 75
T68 John Senden 77
Photo: David Berding/Getty Images
