Elvis Smylie, Ryan Fox and Carlos Ortiz shared a two-shot lead after mastering tricky, windy conditions on day one of the Crown Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.
There has been much excitement about the national open making a return to one of the world’s most revered layouts for the first time in 34 years but it was the weather rather than the Composite Course that stole the show in round one.
And it was Smylie, Fox and Ortiz who tackled them best, carding rounds of 65 to get to six under and lead the way from Cameron Adam, Clement Charmasson and Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen.
Smylie, a winner on home soil during last season’s Opening Swing at the BMW Australian PGA Championship overcame an opening bogey with seven birdies and he was the man to set the early target.
Kiwi Fox then made eight birdies to join him at the summit before Mexico’s Ortiz eagled the 17th to catapult himself to the top of the leaderboard.
Smylie finished the 2025 Race to Dubai as the top-ranked Australian and continued to star on home soil after narrowly missing out on dual membership with the PGA TOUR.
He recovered from his opening bogey with two good birdie chances and finally made one on the 13th from inside ten feet, following it with a two-putt gain on the par-five next and another from close range on the 15th.
A lucky bounce on the first was followed by another gain on the third, with a lengthy putt on the seventh extending his lead and a birdie on the eighth giving him some breathing room.
“It was really solid round, 65 round around Royal Melbourne, the first round of an Aussie Open would be great,” he said.
“I don’t think I need to start pushing and fighting the wind. I think like I did today, just kind of take your moments, knowing when to attack the flags and when to pull back.
"Obviously I’m not really sure what the conditions are going to be the next three days, but everyone’s in the same boat and just try and keep doing what I’m doing.”
Fox made his mark on the international stage in 2025 with two wins on the PGA TOUR, adding to his four so far on the DP World Tour.
He made a rapid start to his round with a tidy approach to the second, an up-and-down at the driveable third and a long putt from off the green at the fourth to complete a hat-trick of birdies.
A smart tee-shot on the seventh had him four under and while he dropped a shot before the turn, he sandwiched a two-putt gain at the 14th with a pair of smart approaches to share the lead.
A second bogey of the day came on the next but he hit back on the par-five 17th to once again find the summit.
“I would've taken even par today,” he said. “This golf course is tricky enough. There's obviously a lot of trouble, especially with all the crosswinds. It's pretty wide off the tee for the most part, if you hit the right club, but with all the crosswinds, you can get yourself in a lot of trouble.
“So I was very happy I managed to stay away from all the bad stuff today and holed a couple of putts early and sort of kept me on my way and hung on through the middle, through the really tough stretch of holes there, and then took advantage of the par fives and a couple of good wedge shots coming home.”
Last week’s top-25 in Brisbane came on Ortiz’s first start in a regular DP World Tour event and he has brought his momentum south, adding six birdies and two bogeys to his eagle.
"You had to respect the golf course and I think I did a great job on that," he said. "We planned it around, we just tried to put in play, be smart, hit greens, and we were lucky enough to make some good putts."
Neergaard-Petersen had a breakout 2025 as he earned dual membership but he is still searching for a first DP World Tour win and an eagle, four birdies and two bogeys gave him a solid start.
The Dane was sat alongside two rookies as French HotelPlanner Tour graduate Clement Charmasson and GAP Rankings winner Cameron Adam both made five birdies with a single dropped shot.
England’s Eddie Pepperell is back on Tour via the HotelPlanner Tour and he fired a 68 to sit three back alongside Australian trio Corey Lamb, Stephen Leaney and Wade Ormsby and Kiwi Daniel Hillier.
South African Michael Hollick made the third hole-in-one of the season on the seventh to sit in a 14-strong group at two under, three clear of Masters champion Rory McIlroy.
