Australians dominated the first day of the Heineken Classic at The Vines Resort in Perth, Western Australia, as European Tour regular Geoff Ogilvy and fellow countrymen Wayne Smith and Chris Gray took a one shot lead over the field.
The trio from Down Under shot five under par 67s to lead from four players on 68 – New Zealand’s Michael Campbell, Thomas Björn of Denmark, South African Retief Goosen and another Australian, Peter O’Malley.
Ogilvy, the 22 year old from Melbourne who won the Australian Rookie of the Year title in 1998-99 and was runner-up to Campbell in the Johnnie Walker Classic in November, took the early lead on the 18th hole when he claimed his fourth birdie in five holes.
The big-hitter – second in the Axa Performance Data long driving statistics in 1999 - was later joined in the lead by Smith, who thrived over his home course at The Vines. He had a superb start with three successive birdies and covered the back nine in one under to join Ogilvy at the top.
Gray was the last of the trio to sign for a 67 late in the day and with an eagle and three birdies he was not complaining about being out in the hottest part of a long, steamy day in Western Australia.
Smith, who has been second twice in this event in ’94 and ’95, insisted that the key to getting around the Vines safely was to be conservative. He didn’t use his driver at all on the front nine, and turned at four-under. His preferred weapon was his trusty 3-wood, and he’s been using the same one for nine years.
After starting the day with eight straight pars, Ogilvy scurried home in 32. The big-hitting youngster has grown enormously in confidence after his second placing to Campbell in Taipei.
"I think mentally I get a bit down on myself and impatient but I’m learning slowly. But I do feel like I should be closer to winning” he said.
Campbell is well-placed and in good company at four-under. The leader on the Australasian PGA Tour Order of Merit, Campbell is in rare form, coming off his charge to victory in last week’s New Zealand Open. That final round burst carried over into today, when he eagled his opening hole, the 493m par-four 10th and from there, he was in cruise control.
"I was thinking about technique all the time, which is more like Faldo than myself. Now, I’m more of a natural player. As soon as I step onto the golf course, I just hit it." said Campbell.
Also at four-under, Thomas Björn of Denmark, the champion here in 1998 and a big danger to the home players this week. He claimed: "I love this golf course. I think this is the type of course that suits my game because you have to be good from tee to green. That is my strong side. I played fantastic golf today."
The Great White Shark, Greg Norman, is back in the pack on 73. His problems began with his second shot of the day, when he pulled his approach to the par five 10th and it disappeared into the trees and he lost the ball.
"After that I put up the shutters for a bit to settle down, to get the game going and to get into a rhythm. I really didn’t hit it close on the greens. It wasn’t a real sharp day."
Open champion Paul Lawrie finished strongly to record a round of 70 while the other European major winner of 1999, José Maria Olazábal, struggled on his seasonal re-appearance and could only manage a 75, the same as new Alfred Dunhill champion Anthony Wall.
Defending champion Jarrod Moseley finished on a level par 72 along with Ernie Els and Qualifying School winner, Alastair Forsyth, while one of Norman’s companions on 73 was last week’s Mercedes-Benz South African Open winner, Mathias Grönberg.
