Aussie duo set target Down Under

Tournament: Australian PGA Championship Race to Dubai: Tournament 2 of 48 events Venue: RACV Royal Pines Resort Prize fund: A$1,500,000

This image of Jake McLeod is displayed by courtesy of Getty Images Round One report Jake McLeod moved a step closer to earning his playing privileges on the European Tour as he took a share of the first-round lead at the Australian PGA Championship. The home favourite has been in brilliant form of late, claiming his first professional win at the NSW Open and then earning a place at The Open Championship with a top-three finish at the Australian Open. That run has put him at the top of the Order of Merit on the PGA Tour of Australasia and if he maintains that position on Sunday, he will claim his card for the rest of the season. A bogey-free 66 on day one at RACV Royal Pines Resort moved him to six under alongside countryman Matt Jager and one clear of another Australian in Dimitrios Papadatos and South Korea's Jaewoong Eom. European Tour Members Adrian Otaegui and Jason Scrivener were then two off the lead alongside World Number 21 Marc Leishman, Mathew Goggin and Douglas Klein. India's Gaganjeet Bhullar, New Zealander Ryan Fox, Portuguese Ricardo Gouveia and English pair James Morrison and Tom Murray were in the group at three under, a shot clear of defending champion Cameron Smith and England's Andrew Johnston. Player Quotes Jake McLeod: “Got off to a flying start. Four under through about six holes or something like that.  Played okay through the middle, nothing great, made a few good up and downs, and birdied the last, which is nice to shoot six under. “I was pretty nervous starting off but starting like that settles nerves. I've been playing well, I've just got to keep on doing what I've been doing. Anything can happen. If one of the other guys wins, obviously they win, so I’ve just got to do what I can do and see what happens at the end of it.” Matt Jager: “The eagles were a bonus obviously, but in saying that, just made some really nice swings. I put us in a position and just rolled a couple of putts in. You obviously don't expect to do that, but that was a bonus.  “There were lots of 12, 15, 20 footers that I had as well that just sort of slid by out there. I was giving myself lots of chances and I was lucky enough to roll those ones in on the par fives when it counted most.” Dimitrios Papadatos: “It was really good. It was a bit of a slow start and then holed out for my second on 17.  I think I was one over and that got me to one under. The front nine I think with the wind today was playing definitely a bit easier than the back. The back's a pretty good test, especially the way the wind was going. So it was nice to come home strong. “Even though I wasn't really in contention, I sort of got myself in a pretty decent position for the last day. I just took a lot out of that and get more confidence, a bit of self-belief maybe.” Marc Leishman: “I was feeling pretty good. It just took a little bit of adjusting to get used to the difference in the speed of the greens. Quite nice, actually. They grew a lot during the day, and obviously playing very late, they were a little slow yesterday afternoon. But they had them good this morning and I proceeded to knock my first putt of the day eight feet past from not very far. Once I adjusted to that, it was fine.  “It was a good day. I didn't have my best stuff. Hit a few scrappy shots, but I think I birdied all the par fives and managed to shoot four under with not my best stuff, so I was happy with that. Hopefully I can play a little better tomorrow and do the same as I did last year and hopefully be right around the lead after two rounds." Round One Scores par 72 +Players are from Australia unless otherwise stated 66 M Jager, J McLeod. 67 D Papadatos, J Eom (S Korea)  68 J Scrivener, M Leishman, M Goggin, D Klein, A Otaegui (Spn)   69 T Pilkadaris, C Luck, G Bhullar (India), S Jeffress, T Murray (Eng), J Felton, R Fox (NZ) , A Price, R Gouveia (Portugal), D Jordan, H Varner (USA) , J Morrison (Eng) , N Flanagan. 70 P Maddy (Eng) , B Moules, A Knappe (Ger) , Y Yuan (Chn) , J Zunic , R Allenby , S Allan, D Gale, A Blyth, S Brazel, S Hawkes, B Becker, R Chisnall (NZ) , T Stewart, J Norris, A Johnston (Eng) , Z Murray, A Hall, H Endycott, G Paddison (NZ) , A Quayle, C John, B Eccles, C Smith, A Bland  71 R McGowan (Eng) , C Wood , G Green (Mas) , T Macdonald, D Bransdon , C Ross (Sco) , J Senior (Eng) , R Green, T Merritt (USA) , O Farr (Wales) , M Brown (NZ) , D Williamson, B Proverbs 72 M Millar, R Sondjaja, M Wright, J Senden, P Senior, R Gibson, A Cockerill (Canada) , R Evans (Eng) , D Boote (Wales) , J Geary (NZ) , A Connelly (Canada) , M Nixon (Eng) , W Ormsby, J Thomson (Eng) , M Kim (S Korea) , H Sturehed (Swe) , H Joannes (Belgium) , M Griffin, P Hayden, A Pike 73 D Gavins (Eng) , Z Chen (Chn) , D Huizing (Netherlands) , G Chalmers, P O'Malley, N Green, K Muir (NZ) , D Cooke (USA) , J Lee, D Beck, A Wilkin, A Edge, D Fox, R Lynch, P Cooke, S Crocker (USA) , G Ogilvy, S Laycock, A Townsend, R Paratore (Ita) , F Droop, D McKenzie, J Higginbottom, D Stewart (Sco) , A Burdett, M Brown, J Munro, S Lee (Fij)   74 J Nitties, K Pratt, J Younger, P Wilson (Aus) , D Pearce (Nzl) , R Pampling (Aus) , J Marchesani, N Taylor (Can) , H Ellis (Eng) , M Stieger, M Hendry (NZ), A Bourke, R Macintyre (Sco) , M Iten (Switz) Hart , D Nisbet (Aus) , C Duke (Aus) , B Rankin, B Clementson, M Lisk, D Smail (NZ) C Davis, R Kulacz 76 M McCardle, D Lawson, J Anstiss (NZ), C Crawford, E Ferguson (Sco) , N Cullen, C Rawson (NZ) , M Guyatt, D Brandt-Richards, A Marchesani, S Hend 77 M Perry (NZ , J Wilson, G Twyman (Eng) , J Mullaney, A Stephens, C Syme (Sco) , 78 M Hoey (Nir) , C Sharvin (Nir) , 80 R Dawson (Irl) , M Fraser, C Berardo (Fra) , L Herbert 82 T Moses  84 A Murdaca