Adam Scott lived up to his reputation as a confirmed front runner by firing an eight under par 64 to occupy a familiar position after the first round of the Johnnie Walker Classic at The Vines Resort and Country Club, Perth, Australia.
The 25 year old from Adelaide, a wire to wire champion last year, moved a significant step closer to his first victory on home soil with his hard-earned score, which included an eagle, eight birdies and two bogeys and enabled him to share the first round lead with American Kevin Stadler.
Scott and Stadler lead by a stroke from Korea's KJ Choi and by two from a trio including Frenchman Jean Van de Velde and the Australian pair of the in-form Richard Green and this Monday's pre-tournament qualifier, Tony Carolan.
However Scott, making his debut on The European Tour International Schedule in 2006, is already the man to catch. Last year in China, Scott opened with a 63 and continued to keep his nose in front for the remainder 54 holes.
As title defences go, his first round at The Vines was an impressive effort, as Scott birdied the final three holes - even missing a ten foot eagle putt at the last for the lead and the outright record for the re-configured Vines course. He admitted afterwards: "It's a good start but obviously there is a long way to go. It's different sitting here on Thursday night compared to Saturday night so I'm not getting ahead of myself.
"It's a course where you can shoot a low score like I did today but you can also shoot a high one pretty easily. The penalty off the fairways is quite severe and with the greens getting firmer you are going to need to be on the fairways. So, that's he goal for the rest of the week - keep hitting the fairways and giving myself a chance to put a good score on the board."
The prospect of winning in Australia is something else that Scott doesn't want to consider at this early stage. He added; "The best way to win is to get into contention and so far I'm on the pace, but I have to hang around two more days to make sure I'm in there on Sunday."
Stadler, playing on an invitation this week and in line to contest two Nationwide Tour events in Australia over the following fortnight, birdied six holes in a row from the ninth to post his 64 before lunch as Scott made his way to the first tee.
The good humoured American was asked how he coped with being the son of a famous golfer. The questioner prefaced his question by asking "Craig", while Kevin responded; "That's what I get a lot - people calling me Craig! Actually I've never really bothered. It's like having a dad who is a doctor of whatever. I don't know how to answer that. How can you?"
However Stadler has inherited the famous Stadler genes and is unmistakably the son of the "Walrus", even though he sports a goatee rather than the luxuriant moustache which is his father's trademark.
Choi was annoyed at driving into the water at the 18th as the prospect of three co-leaders loomed. The Korean salvaged a par to shoot 65 while Green, an unlucky third behind Tiger Woods and Ernie Els in the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday, picked up where he left off at the Emirates by mixing nine birdies with three bogeys in his 66 while Van de Velde blazed home in 30 to match that score.
Scott, meanwhile, prepared to undertake a totally different role in the evening along with several of the biggest golfing names playing at The Vines - that of bartender. Scott was due to display his skills with a cocktail shaker in the Johnnie Walker bar but insisted the amber product won't get in the way of his ambitions.
"I will strictly be serving the drink - nothing else" he declared. If he or any other Australian triumphs on Sunday, he may well be a very different story.
