Olesen shoots course record to lead in Australia
Thorbjorn Olesen and John Wade shot course-record 64s at the Lake Karrinyup Country Club to share the lead after the first round of the Perth International on Thursday.
Olesen teed off in an afternoon group and had four birdies on each of the front and back nines to equal the eight-under mark that Wade, a 46-year-old assistant pro at the Commonwealth Golf Club in Victoria state, set in the morning.
Dufner returns
Jason Dufner is back in action © Getty Images
- American Jason Dufner had a 70 in his first competitive round in almost three months since withdrawing from his US PGA Championship defence with a neck injury.
- Dufner was a stroke ahead of Ryder Cup hero Victor Dubuisson, who mixed four birdies with three bogeys in a 71, and two clear of defending champion Jin Jeong of South Korea.
- Click here for the full leaderboard
“I played really, really well the front nine. I gave myself a lot of chances there,” Olesen said. “Especially my short game was amazing out there. My chipping and bunker shots were really, really good.
“The greens are perfect, layout is great.”
Wade could barely believe his opening round, after qualifying earlier in the week for the jointly sanctioned European Tour and Australasian Tour event.
“I’ve really been struggling recently, even in the lead-up,” he said. “This is all new to me. I’ve just got to go out with the same attitude tomorrow.”
Another Australian, Michael Sim, Scotland’s Peter Whiteford, Kim Shi-wan of South Korea, and England’s Tom Lewis were tied for third at six-under.
In a group a stroke further back were Australians Brett Rumford, Matthew Griffin and Jason Scrivener, David Drysdale of Scotland, Mark Foster of England, Julien Quesne of France and Magnus Carlsson of Sweden.
2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel sank a long putt on his last hole to finish with a 68 and a share of 14th spot.
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