Scott poised as Smith struggles LEADERBOARD
ADAM Scott is ready to “rip the front nine apart” today after holing clutch putts to stay in touch on day one of the Australian PGA Championship.
Two-time defending champion Cameron Smith (74) struggled, but Scott (70) sits just three shots behind early pacesetters Lucas Herbert and Brett Rankin, who opened with five-under rounds of 67 in placid morning conditions at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast.
A flat Smith — aiming to become the first man in more than 100 years to win the tournament in three consecutive years — battled all day to finish two-over and in danger of missing the cut.
But a long-range eagle putt and a longer birdie putt ensured Scott — the 2013 champion and marquee man — remained in the hunt for his first tournament win since February 2016.
Like Smith, Scott also threw in a double bogey when he found the water off the tee on the 13th hole.
But he made two long putts, for birdie and eagle, either side of that and had earlier left another long birdie putt dangling on the lip of the cup. The 2013 Masters champion arrived on
-5: Brett Rankin (AUS) 18 holes, Lucas Herbert (AUS) 18 holes
-4: Wade Ormsby (AUS) 18 holes, Travis Smyth (AUS) 18 holes, Min Woo Lee (AUS) 18 holes, Nick Cullen (AUS) 18 holes, Ryan Chisnall (NZL) 18 holes
-3: Nick Voke (NZL) 18 holes, Andrew Dodt (AUS) 18 holes, Michael Wright (AUS) 18 holes, Jason Norris (AUS) 18 holes, Harry Bateman (NZL) 18 holes, Ryan Fox (NZL) 18 holes, David Smail (NZL) 18 holes -2: Adam Scott (AUS) 18 holes +2: Cam Smith (AUS) 18 holes
the Gold Coast frustrated that his consistency hadn’t been rewarded with a title for almost four years. Twice this year he finished runner-up.
But his efforts yesterday gave him confidence that title drought could be remedied by Sunday afternoon.
“I’m putting good ... I’m playing good; unfortunately I really mis-hit that drive off 13 and it cost me two [shots],” Scott said.
“Other than that it was pretty much stress-free; I was very happy with it because it wasn’t very easy out there.”