Paul Casey of England began the Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne in much the same impressive way that he finished the dunhill championship two weeks ago with a fluent round of 65, seven under par, to lead the field after the first round.
The 25 year old, who played the last 36 holes at Houghton GC in 11 under par to finish tied ninth, carded eight birdies and just one irritating bogey in his fine round, to establish a one stroke lead over Spaniard Santiago Luna.
Play was halted for an unscheduled 90 minute rain relay, resulting in waterlogged greens, but it didn’t halt Casey and Luna’s progress towards the top of the leaderboard. Casey, winner of the Gleneagles Scottish PGA Championship in 2001, birdied three of the four par fives, capitalising on the ferocious length of the tee which has propelled him to the top of the driving distance category in the Reuters Performance Data.
Casey could not remember ever having led a professional tournament after the opening round. He said: "I have done it plenty of times as an amateur and it is something I would like to do more.
"I always seem to make a charge and do all the work at the end. It would be nice to make it easier."
Luna took advantage of the kinder conditions following the resumption in play, picking up five shots in the first six holes and adding a further birdie at the ninth to turn in 30. However his charge stalled slightly on the back nine as a bogey at the 11th followed by the response of a birdie at the 12th carried him home in 36 for a round of 66.
Peter Lonard, of Australia, and Casey also began to make an imprint on the top of a leaderboard which had remained unchanged since late morning. The pair joined the early clubhouse leaders, Warren Bennet and Gary Evans of England and Australia’s Peter Fowler on five under before Casey edged in front on his own.
Bennett was in the first morning group out on the course and shot grabbed birdies as temperatures in Melbourne touched 29 degrees. He commented: "I didn't really know what to expect when I started. The course being so dry and the greens being so good that under par was a definite possibility. It was perfect. I have never seen greens like those."
Evans eagled the second hole, his 11th, and remained solid as the predicted rains came suddenly. However he returned to the course to turn in 33 and a pair of birdies on the back nine saw him sign for a round of 67, the same as Bennett.
The experienced Fowler, who tied for second behind Ernie Els in the Heineken Classic last year, teed off on the tenth and began with a delicious eagle before finishing with a flurry, picking up welcome birdies at the seventh and ninth..
However tournament favourite and defending champion, Els, was slightly off-key after his recent exertions which saw him win back to back titles on the US PGA Tour before being edged out by Lian-Wei Ziang in Singapore.
Els who opened with a bogey, was struggling to stay with the field early on, reaching the turn in a level par 36. The South African picked up four birdies on the back nine but on account of throwing a couple of bogeys, he had to settle for a two under par round of 70 to open his title defence..
