GATES AND BUCKLE ON TOP DOWN UNDER
FROM THE PGA OF AUSTRALIA WEBSITE
By Luke Buttigieg at Coolum, Sportal
American Bobby Gates has joined morning pacesetter Andrew Buckle at the top of the leaderboard on the opening day of the Australian PGA Championship at Hyatt Regency Coolum.
After Buckle capitalised on the benign morning conditions and soft fairways and greens to roll in 10 birdies on the way to an eight-under 64, current New Zealand Open champion Gates began with an eagle and picked up seven more birdies to be the best of the afternoon players.
Two shots back in a tie for third are local Steven Bowditch, who picked up four shots in as many holes from the start of his back nine to threaten Buckle's lead as well as China's Liang Wenchong, who twice drew within a shot and veteran Aussie Peter Fowler.
Buckle's playing partner Matthew Millar, James Nitties, Andre Stolz, rising Australian star Kieran Pratt and Japan's Akio Sadakata all shot 67s, although Nitties shared the lead with Buckle at seven under after grabbing seven birdies in 12 holes only to stumble with three bogeys coming home.
Matthew Griffin, Brad Hughes and Brad Kennedy are among those who share 11th place on minus four while Michael Long, John Senden and Tetsuya Haraguchi all carded rounds of 69.
2008 champion and last-start Australian Open champion Geoff Ogilvy finished with a 70 but it could have been much lower as his six birdies were undone by four bogeys, while defending champion Robert Allenby, Aberdeen-born Michael Sim and Nick O'Hern are also at two under.
Allenby and Liang's playing partner, American drawcard John Daly, opened with successive birdies but couldn't maintain the momentum and finished with a one-under 71 that leaves him alongside Craig Parry, Stephen Leaney and Brett Rumford.
Buckle's fellow Queenslander and world No.21 Adam Scott, who played with Ogilvy and Matt Jones (73), had to be content with a 73 having slumped to a quadruple bogey 8 at the 13th when he twice found the water.
Buckle, who is fresh from a disappointing season on the Nationwide Tour in which he finished 72nd on the money list to leave himself with only conditional status for 2011, made the most of the ideal early conditions helped immeasurably by torrential rain earlier this week.
Having gone more than four years since his last win, at Virginia Beach on the Nationwide Tour in 2006, Buckle had a mixed start to his round with birdies at the 1st and 3rd holes and bogeys at the 2nd and 4th.
From there though he charged up the leaderboard, a third birdie of the day at the 5th triggering a run of three in succession before he grabbed four more on the trot from the 10th and a score in the low 60s looked on the cards before he missed gettable birdie putts at four of the last five holes to finish with his 64.
"Absolutely, today I just tried to get back to just using my instincts a little bit, which I haven't really done since I was a kid, so it was a lot of fun to play that way again instead of just thinking about my swing," Buckle said.
"(At) 14 the par-three I just missed, then (at) 15 I had a makeable one, (at) 16 I had a makeable one and (at) 18 I had a makeable one, they all just missed (even though) I was hitting good putts."
"(And) my two bogeys were just soft bogeys really, I really didn't expect this today that is for sure."
Gates, who is headed to the US PGA Tour for the first time next year, began with a bang by eagling the 1st before adding three more birdies in four holes from the 5th, which set him on his way as he started and finished his back nine with consecutive birdies, his only blemish at 14 when he found the water.
Playing in Australia both as a late-year holiday and to try and get himself ready for an early start to 2011 in Hawaii, Gates finished in style with a 45-footer for birdie.
"It was a good putt, it broke and I looked up about halfway and I just said 'speed looks good, speed looks good' and it went in, so it was nice to see," Gates said.
Like Buckle earlier, Liang looked on track to post a number in the low 60s when he went out in 30 with six birdies but lost momentum with three birdies and three bogeys on the back nine.
Scot Simon Yates is joint 51st after a 71.
TO READ ALL THE SCORES ON THE PGA OF AUSTRALIA WEBSITE
CLICK HERE
By Luke Buttigieg at Coolum, Sportal
American Bobby Gates has joined morning pacesetter Andrew Buckle at the top of the leaderboard on the opening day of the Australian PGA Championship at Hyatt Regency Coolum.
After Buckle capitalised on the benign morning conditions and soft fairways and greens to roll in 10 birdies on the way to an eight-under 64, current New Zealand Open champion Gates began with an eagle and picked up seven more birdies to be the best of the afternoon players.
Two shots back in a tie for third are local Steven Bowditch, who picked up four shots in as many holes from the start of his back nine to threaten Buckle's lead as well as China's Liang Wenchong, who twice drew within a shot and veteran Aussie Peter Fowler.
Buckle's playing partner Matthew Millar, James Nitties, Andre Stolz, rising Australian star Kieran Pratt and Japan's Akio Sadakata all shot 67s, although Nitties shared the lead with Buckle at seven under after grabbing seven birdies in 12 holes only to stumble with three bogeys coming home.
Matthew Griffin, Brad Hughes and Brad Kennedy are among those who share 11th place on minus four while Michael Long, John Senden and Tetsuya Haraguchi all carded rounds of 69.
2008 champion and last-start Australian Open champion Geoff Ogilvy finished with a 70 but it could have been much lower as his six birdies were undone by four bogeys, while defending champion Robert Allenby, Aberdeen-born Michael Sim and Nick O'Hern are also at two under.
Allenby and Liang's playing partner, American drawcard John Daly, opened with successive birdies but couldn't maintain the momentum and finished with a one-under 71 that leaves him alongside Craig Parry, Stephen Leaney and Brett Rumford.
Buckle's fellow Queenslander and world No.21 Adam Scott, who played with Ogilvy and Matt Jones (73), had to be content with a 73 having slumped to a quadruple bogey 8 at the 13th when he twice found the water.
Buckle, who is fresh from a disappointing season on the Nationwide Tour in which he finished 72nd on the money list to leave himself with only conditional status for 2011, made the most of the ideal early conditions helped immeasurably by torrential rain earlier this week.
Having gone more than four years since his last win, at Virginia Beach on the Nationwide Tour in 2006, Buckle had a mixed start to his round with birdies at the 1st and 3rd holes and bogeys at the 2nd and 4th.
From there though he charged up the leaderboard, a third birdie of the day at the 5th triggering a run of three in succession before he grabbed four more on the trot from the 10th and a score in the low 60s looked on the cards before he missed gettable birdie putts at four of the last five holes to finish with his 64.
"Absolutely, today I just tried to get back to just using my instincts a little bit, which I haven't really done since I was a kid, so it was a lot of fun to play that way again instead of just thinking about my swing," Buckle said.
"(At) 14 the par-three I just missed, then (at) 15 I had a makeable one, (at) 16 I had a makeable one and (at) 18 I had a makeable one, they all just missed (even though) I was hitting good putts."
"(And) my two bogeys were just soft bogeys really, I really didn't expect this today that is for sure."
Gates, who is headed to the US PGA Tour for the first time next year, began with a bang by eagling the 1st before adding three more birdies in four holes from the 5th, which set him on his way as he started and finished his back nine with consecutive birdies, his only blemish at 14 when he found the water.
Playing in Australia both as a late-year holiday and to try and get himself ready for an early start to 2011 in Hawaii, Gates finished in style with a 45-footer for birdie.
"It was a good putt, it broke and I looked up about halfway and I just said 'speed looks good, speed looks good' and it went in, so it was nice to see," Gates said.
Like Buckle earlier, Liang looked on track to post a number in the low 60s when he went out in 30 with six birdies but lost momentum with three birdies and three bogeys on the back nine.
Scot Simon Yates is joint 51st after a 71.
TO READ ALL THE SCORES ON THE PGA OF AUSTRALIA WEBSITE
CLICK HERE
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posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Thursday, December 09, 2010
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