US Tour/The International: Two unconsidered Australians, Rod Pampling and Geoff Ogilvy, were topping the leaderboard early in the first round of The International at Castle Pines here yesterday.
In the modified Stableford format, Pampling had 15 points, roughly equivalent to a seven-under-par 65, with Ogilvy one behind on 14 points. Justin Rose, with an approximate 69, was in sixth place with nine points, while Jose Maria Olazabal continued his recent good form with 11 points, to be tied for fourth.
Olazabal began his day at the daunting 10th hole, a par-four of 513 yards, with the green guarded by a lake. But the air is thin at Castle Pines, which is some 6,200 feet up in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and even relatively short hitters can enjoy drives of more than 300 yards.
The Spaniard began with a 315-yard tee-shot, hit a second that just cleared the water and then holed from 15 feet for a birdie.
If that was encouraging, so too was the fact that scoring conditions were ideal - the air still and the course still sodden from a storm on Wednesday that was the worst in the 19-year history of the tournament. It was frightening in its intensity, as hailstones like marbles hammered down and the whole storm illuminated by vivid lightning flashes.
Fortunately the putting surfaces survived and Olazabal made good use of them, single-putting nine of his first 13 greens. He had accumulated eight points by the turn, representing four-under-par, and he then survived a shaky second hole where, after driving into the rough, he could only chop the ball out sideways some 30 feet on to the fairway. Still with 126 yards to go, he played a wedge to 13 feet and saved par.
Rose was playing with the US Tour's biggest hitter, Hank Kuehne, who averages almost 320 yards at sea level. At altitude anything is possible:he once hit a drive off the elevated first tee at Castle Pines that flew 465 yards.
Yesterday his drive was "only" 358 yards long, with Rose exactly 20 yards behind him. The Englishman, however, made his birdie, and finished his front nine with seven points.
