2015 Australian Open: ‘Unreal’ Tighe leads after sweltering first round

Unknown Lincoln Tighe leads the Australian Open as Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott struggle.

Lincoln Tighe leads the 2015 Australian Open after the first round after carding a superb 5-under 66 in difficult conditions at The Australian Golf Club in Sydney.

Teeing off in the morning conditions, Tighe was met with strong, blustery winds and sweltering temperatures but the New South Welshman finished the day one shots better than Matt Jones.

“It’s unreal. I felt even last week at Huntingdale my game was there, I just didn’t really get anything out of it, but it feels unreal to be here and be playing as good as I did,” Tighe said.

Unheralded Tighe is originally from Wollongong and is back in Australia after scraping through qualifying to earn a spot in the Web.com Tour Q-School next week.

Few expected anyone from the afternoon pairings to get close to Tighe’s score as the changed direction to a wild southerly, with the temperature plummeting 16 degrees in three hours. But Matt Jones had other ideas.

The Sydney-born Jones loves an Australian Open finishing top-25 in four of his last five tournaments. Jones looked solid playing a range of different golf shots to suit the conditions, carding just the one bogey to finish at 4-under the card, one shot behind Tighe.

Geoff Ogilvy teed off in the morning in one of the marquee groups. Playing alongside Lee Westwood and Jordan Spieth, big galleries saw Ogilvy get off to a flying start making birdies on four of his first six holes.

However the day looked like unravelling for Ogilvy as he made bogey, followed by double-bogey on the 17th and 18th (his 8th and 9th holes), but the former US Open champion steadied to post a solid first round score.

“I hit a lot of good shots, I played very well, I putted nicely, which is always nice in the wind,” Ogilvy said after his round. “So yeah, 3 under. It was a good group to be in. There were a lot of people out there watching, so it was fun.”

Playing partner, Lee Westwood finished his day at 1-under par and world number one Jordan Spieth carded three birdies and three bogeys to finish at even par. All three players made a meal of the par-4 9th hole finishing a collective 4-over par.

Adam Scott fired an 8-under par 63 in yesterday’s pro-am but it counted for nothing as the former Masters champion struggled for consistency finishing at even par. Scott is not out of the tournament by any means, but doesn’t look comfortable on the greens or the fairways.