NSW golfer Lincoln Tighe upstaged some more fancied rivals to take the first round lead of an Australian Open first day that saw very healthy crowds and strong winds.
The 26 year old member of Port Kembla Golf Club near Wollongong south of Sydney won the NSW PGA Championship last year and has also wrangled his way on the the Web.com Tour in the US but was certainly up against some bigger names in the world of golf.
Playing in a morning grouping when conditions were not all that much easier than the afternoon Tighe shot a 5-under 66 to lead established US PGA Tour player Matt Jones by a stroke.
Defending champion Jordan Spieth was back on even after a three birdie-three bogie round, as was leading Aussie hope Adam Scott.
Tighe fronted the media in his first ever official media centre interview, and carried the task off with aplomb. The video is below.
Matt Jones was happy overall with his game and hoping for three more good rounds.
“I’ve played here a lot, just being a member here so maybe I’ve got a little more local knowledge of the wind, but I mean, I enjoy playing in wind most of the time, so I play well in it. If I have good control of my ball, my trajectory, my ball flight, the wind doesn’t affect it as much, so if you’re striking it well, the wind’s not going to affect it as much as it sometimes does.”
Adam Scott said conditions were as “blustery” as he had played in for some time but bounced back after a 3-over front nine.
“Unfortunately I made two doubles and that was costly. The rest of the round was pretty good stuff but that can happen in these conditions. It’s tough out there and I let a couple of shots get away from me which fortunately today didn’t cost me a look at this Tournament,” he said.
“I played nicely coming in and it was important to just get a couple of drives in play on those shorter par 4s and the par 5 14th and take advantage, make a couple of quick birdies and kind of right the ship I guess.”
2015 Australian Open Photo Gallery Australian Open Leaderboard