Harold Varner III and Ashley Hall made a string of closing birdies to join Andrew Dodt at the top of the leaderboard as the weather-delayed first round of the Australian PGA Championship was completed on Friday morning.
Storms had arrived at RACV Royal Pines Resort at 15.16 on day one causing play to be halted, and at that point the American was five under with four holes to complete, while Hall was four back with seven to play.
That led to an 02.45 alarm call for the 26 year old but Varner did not seem affected by the delay, making two pars before birdieing the 17th and the last from ten feet.
The 65 continued his good form on the Gold Coast where he only lost out last year on the first play-off hole to Nathan Holman.
"Everyone had to deal with it, everyone had to wake up this morning early, so I’m not too worried about it," he said.
"Last year I didn’t get the way where the bad stuff was, so you just deal with it, it’s a part of golf.
"I got it going on the last two holes, a good way to finish. Obviously, ready to go this morning - it feels like afternoon. Just solid, nothing too crazy.
"I just need to keep doing what I’m doing one shot at a time. I’ve played it well. I just want to keep doing that. There’s a lot of golf left."
Hall birdied the 12th, 14th and 15th and then added another gain on the last to make it a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard.
"It’s worth getting up for, so early," he said. "I think everyone set a new record for alarms this morning, so definitely worthwhile for me.
"Confidence is good. I rolled a couple of putts in this morning. I missed a couple of short ones yesterday, so I’m pretty happy with it."
I’ve played it well. I just want to keep doing that. There’s a lot of golf left - Harold Varner III
Another local favourite, Matthew Griffin, also made a move early on day two, picking up three birdies in his remaining holes to sit a shot off the lead at six under.
The PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit leader had five holes left to play and picked up a hat-trick of birdies from the 15th to sign for a 66.
"I guess it makes the 3am alarm worthwhile, making three this morning was really good," he said.
"It’s good to finish well. You get some momentum going into round two and hopefully that wind stays down for a bit longer and I can make a few more birdies."
Dodt had taken advantage of the calmer early conditions on Thursday to make eight birdies and a bogey before the storms arrived, and all the other players in the upper echelons of the leaderboard had also been morning starters who completed their rounds on day one.
New Zealander Ryan Fox and American Julian Suri were at five under, a shot clear of World Number Seven Adam Scott, fellow Australians Nick Cullen, Geoff Drakeford and Todd Sinnott, Thailand's Natipong Srithong and Englishman Paul Waring.
