Scott’s Open dream a haze

ADAM Scott’s bid to regain the Stonehaven Cup went up in smoke after the haze from the state’s bushfires blanketed the Australian Open.

What should have been a summer stroll in the park for professional golfers, descended into a health hazard as players complained of burning eyes as they trudged around Australian Golf Club.

“It's awful,” said Matt Jones, who won the Open at the same course in 2015.

“Your eyes do burn up. I've got that cough like you've got something in your lungs, phlegm in your lungs or whatever, but yeah it's not fun. Even when I played in China I didn’t think it was like this at all. Definitely not in Malaysia, it’s just unbelievably humid, but no, I’ve never experienced anything like this. I hope my kids are inside in the hotel room.”

Jones finished at 4-underpar, with an eagle on his ninth hole the highlight of his round, to end the day tied for third with Dimitrios Papadatos and Daniel Nisbet as the leading Australians.

Two amateurs set the pace, with Japan’s Takumi Kanaya and Taiwan’s ChunAn Yu both shooting sixunder 65s, while most big guns literally choked. Scott is already in danger of missing the cut after carding a 75, which included his only birdie of the day.

He played in the worst of the conditions, when the smoke was at its thickest, but did not blame the weather. “It feels like I should shove a bit of salt water up my nose or something and try and rinse myself out,” he said.

Presidents Cup teammates Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman fared better, with Smith finishing 3-under and Leishman a shot back.