Golf:Tiger Woods gave Australian golf fans a taste of what they have been missing over the last decade by shooting a six-under-par 66 for a share of the first round lead at the Australian Masters today.
Woods, playing in Australia for the first time in 11 years, thrilled galleries packed at least six-deep on each hole, carding seven birdies for a share of the lead alongside South Africa's Branden Grace and Australian James Nitties.
"I felt pretty good today, I hit the ball pretty decent. I didn't get my irons that close but took advantage of the par fives," said the world number one at the co-sanctioned event.
"I bogeyed the last hole and missed two shots for birdie but other than that it was a pretty good day," said Woods.
Taking advantage of benign morning conditions, the 14-times major champion attacked Kingston Heath's greens and had little trouble reaching on the course's longer holes. He picked up four birdies in five holes coming in to the clubhouse.
"One, the wind wasn't really blowing. Two, the greens were soft. So we can be pretty aggressive and hit it into the greens,"
Chasing his first Australian title on his fourth visit Down Under, Woods will face a tougher task tomorrow with an afternoon tee-off likely to bring gusting winds and soaring temperatures at one of Australia's most treacherous courses.
South African Grace is playing to keep his European Tour card and the 21-year-old threatened to upstage Woods by sinking six birdies in eight holes in a scintillating mid-round burst.
However, he was left to rue a bogey on the 17th after edging into a one-stroke lead over Woods.
"I was seven under with two to go and had a bogey on 17, which in the end was just really stupid...but you know I'm really happy. I am up there and hopefully can keep playing that way for the next three rounds," Grace said.
After a patient run of four pars, Australian Nitties sparked his round to life with an eagle on the par five 14th, his fifth hole, and adding four birdies on his way to a bogey-free round.
The 27-year-old, who broke into the U.S. Tour this year, joined Woods and Grace a stroke above Australians Cameron Percy and Doug Holloway, who shot matching 67s.
Adam Scott, battling to return to the top 10 after a horror year on the US PGA Tour, is five strokes off the pace after shooting a one-under 71.
Former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy is a further stroke behind after a double bogey on his last hole, the par-four ninth, dropped him to an even par 72.
Ireland’s Gary Murphy opened with a respectable 71 as he bids to keep his European Tour card for next season.
Collated first round scores in the European Tour JBWere Masters, Kingston Heath Golf Club, Melbourne, Australia
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):
66Tiger Woods (USA), Branden Grace (Rsa), James Nitties (Aus)
67Doug Holloway (Nzl), Cameron Percy (Aus)
68Mathew Goggin (Aus), Peter Nolan (Aus), Greg Chalmers (Aus)
69Damien Jordon (Aus), Rick Kulacz (Aus), Ashley Hall (Aus), Stuart Appleby (Aus), Rohan Blizard (Aus), Lee Slattery
70Manny Villegas (Col), David McKenzie (Aus), Michael Sim (Aus), Jason Dufner (USA), Ryan Haller (Aus), Craig Parry (Aus), Michael Curtain (Aus), Kurt Barnes (Aus)
71Mahal Pearce (Nzl), Andrew Tampion (Aus), Klas Eriksson (Swe), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Steven Bowditch (Aus), Tim Wilkinson (Nzl), Craig Scott (Aus), Matthew Millar (Aus), Michael Long (Nzl), Wade Ormsby (Aus), Sam Little, Matthew Griffin (Aus), Richard Bland, Rodney Pampling (Aus), Adam Scott (Aus), Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Seve Benson, Gary Murphy, Ewan Porter (Aus), Andre Stolz (Aus), Peter O'Malley (Aus)
72Scott Laycock (Aus), Benn Barham, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Josh Geary (Nzl), Adam Bland (Aus), Gareth Paddison (Nzl), Josh Younger (Aus), Alistair Presnell (Aus), Marc Leishman (Aus), Anthony Brown (Aus), Craig Spence (Aus), Richard Green (Aus), Steven Jones (Aus), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), Michael Light (Aus)
73Andrew Martin (Aus), Andrew Bonhomme (Aus), Andrew Tschudin (Aus), Todd Nicholson (Nzl), Mark Purser (Nzl), Michael Wright (Aus), Josh Carmichael (Aus), Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Terry Price (Aus), Peter Wilson (Aus), Hamish Robertson (Nzl), John Senden (Aus), Sam Saunders (USA), Adam Groom (Aus), Jason Norris (Aus), Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Brad Andrews (Aus), Simon Furneaux (Aus), Leigh Mckechnie (Aus), Paul Sheehan (Aus), Rodney Booth (Aus)
74Rudi Bezuidenhout (Aus), Frank Power (Aus), Richard Moir (Aus), Paul Marantz (Aus), Jarrod Moseley (Aus), Miles Tunnicliff, Brad Kennedy (Aus), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Tim Wise (Aus), Michael Campbell (Nzl), Ed Stedman (Aus), Paul Waring, Kurt Carlson (Aus), Aaron Pike (Aus), Matthew Giles (Aus), Brett Rumford (Aus)
75Aaron Townsend (Aus), James Carr (Aus), Chris Gaunt (Aus), Michael Brennan (Aus), Michael Hendry (Nzl), Peter Cooke (Aus), Anthony Summers (Aus), Andrew Pitt (Aus), Tim Wood (Aus), Michael McGrath (Aus), Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Callum Macaulay, Ryan Hammond (Aus), Adam Blyth (Aus)
76Ben Bunny (Aus), Marcus Cain (Aus), Martin Doyle (Aus), Brendan Stuart (Nzl), Brad Shilton (Nzl), Stuart Bouvier (Aus), Adam Crawford (Aus), Alex Cejka (Ger), Aaron Black (Aus), Sam Brazel (Aus), Kim Felton (Aus)
77Andrew Coltart, Adam Wilcox (Aus), Jens Nilsson (Swe), Heath Reed (Aus), Dean Kinney (Aus)
78Alessandro Tadini (Ita), Kai Mckay (Aus), Daniel Morrison (Aus), Nick Cullen (Aus), Michael Choi (Aus), Rory Hie (Id)
79Chris Downes (Aus)
80Leighton Lyle (Aus), Tom Prowse (Aus), Ben Burge (Aus), Steven O'Hara, Michael Moore (Aus)
81Richie Gallichan (Aus), Nathan Uebergang (Aus), Brad Lamb (Aus)
82Grant Scott (Aus), Jared Pender (Nzl)
83Mathew Holten (Nzl), Steven Jeppesen (Swe)
