Scott’s ten-under birdie blitz
Adam Scott has fired a ten-under 62 in a spectacular start to his quest to complete a Triple Crown at the Australian Open golf championship in Sydney.
Starting his opening round on the 10th hole on Thursday, Scott birdied the first sic holes and made the turn in six-under-par 30, wowing his gallery at Royal Sydney with a breathtaking display of ball striking.
So much in control was he that the world No.2’s longest birdie putt in his first five holes was less than two metres.
Scott’s extraordinary opening evoked memories of his childhood idol Greg Norman making six straight birdies to open his final round of the 1989 British Open.
Scott’s succession of birdies came to and end on his seventh hole when he was unable to two-putt from about eight metres on the 535m par-5 16th.
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The Masters champion drove into the left fairway bunker and was only able to advance his second shot a short distance before cursing himself for not knocking it close with his approach.
He then got up and down from a trap to save par on his eighth hole after shooting over the back on the par-3 17th.
Scott made another scrambling par on the 18th, his ninth hole, after pulling his approach left.
On the second nine, the six-under start looked as though that might be it – until Scott reeled off four birdies on six, seven, eight and nine to close at 10-under.
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Scott’s playing partner and World Cup-winning teammate Jason Day was among those left in his wake.
Day opened with a three-putt bogey, then dropped another shot on the second after driving over a hesian boundary fence onto a practice range.
Day nevertheless delighted the big crowd when, rather than walking back and around, he nonchalantly jumped the two-metre high fence to hit his recovery shot.
The world No.11 then made successive birdies on his third and fourth holes to drag himself back to even par, only to bogey the par-4 15th before turning in one-over 37.
Scott’s closest challenger mid-round was Scott Laycock, who was five-under through 11 holes, with fellow Victorian Nathan Holman two back in the same group.
Former world No.1 Rory McIlroy tees off later on Thursday.
Adelaide’s Tom Bond started the tournament well with a three-under 69.
Live scores at http://www.pga.org.au/scores
