Australian’s Adam Bland and Jordan Zunic posted matching 6-under 66s at RACV Royal Pines Resort and share the lead after round one of the Australian PGA Championship.
The little-known Aussies are one up on compatriot Marc Leishman and Spaniard Sergio Garcia, who lead a group of five players at 5 under.
Garcia’s workmanlike bogey-free round, included a pair of birdies on the out and three more on the inward nine.
“I wouldn’t say that it was amazing but it was good,” Garcia said. “The most positive thing for me would be to go a bogey-free round, which I didn’t realize until we got done.”
Leishman, meanwhile, got off to a slow start and was 1-over through seven holes. But the 34-year old Aussie dropped a string of three straight birdies on hole Nos. 8-10, followed by a second hot stretch on Nos. 15, 16 and 18 (eagle-birdie-birdie) to reach 5 under.
Daniel Nisbet, Peter Senior and Michael Wright were alongside Garcia and Leishman at 5 under.
Greg Chalmers, Steve Dartnall, Rhein Gibson, Lucas Herbert James Nitties, Brett Rankin and Cameron Smith were all at 4 under.
TOP 10: ROUND ONE
1 Adam Bland -6
1 Jordan Zunic -6
3 Marc Leishman -5
3 Sergio Garcia -5
3 Daniel Nisbet -5
3 Peter Senior -5
3 Michael Wright -5
8 Greg Chalmers -4
8 Steve Dartnall -4
8 Rhein Gibson -4
8 Lucas Herbert -4
8 James Nitties -4
8 Brett Rankin -4
8 Cameron Smith -4
SHOT OF THE DAY
QUOTABLE
“I feel like mentally I’m not quite as sharp as I was probably a month ago or so. I guess the year is kind of draining a little bit. Hopefully I’m able to do more of the same but every day’s different. Every day’s a different story and it also depends on the weather. If it gets windy it can be quite tricky, this course.”
– Sergio Garcia
Credits: European Tour Media, Getty Images
