Lomas leads first day by five points

Englishman Jonathan Lomas leads the way after a rain-interrupted first round of the ANZ Championship at the Lakes in Sydney.

Under the revised stableford scoring system, Lomas is at +20 after shooting a first round 64, nine-under par.

Lomas scored five points with an eagle on his 8th (the 17th hole), he also picked up points with four birdies on each nine. His only blemish, a bogey on his third hole, cost him one point.

He said the soft greens at the Lakes were much better suited to his game than the lightning-fast putting surfaces at Royal Melbourne last week, where he missed the cut.

“I am not scared of hitting driver at all on some of these holes. Being more positive I suppose, being more aggressive on the course and with the putter as well. The greens were a lot slower than last week.” Lomas said.

Lomas, 33, now resides in Scotland and was ranked 77th on the European Order of Merit last year. His visit to Australia came via South Africa where he finished third at the recent South African Open.

Lomas holds a five-point lead over Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin, who finished his first round at +15.

Jacquelin scored eight birdies, worth two points each, including five-in-a-row on the back nine. His only blemish was one bogey at the 9th.

The majority of the players currently at the top-end of the leaderboard played in the morning groups, including Swede Carl Pettersson who sits in third place after finishing his day on +13.

The highest-placed Australian is little known Euan Walters, who along with Englishman David Lynn finished at +12 in equal fourth.

Lynn was clearly the best of the afternoon players ahead of Aussies Andre Stolz and Scott Laycock who are one point behind.

Walters had a spectacular outward nine of 32 before his score was pegged back by late bogeys.

Laycock’s round included a run of four successive birdies from the 4th to the 7th.

Of the other Australians, Aaron Baddeley had an indifferent round but still finished on +2, while Tour veteran Peter Senior finished at +8, after a three-under round of 73.

Craig Parry had a solid start and is +8 nearing the end of his round, while Peter O’Malley is one-point behind him.

Kiwi veteran Greg Turner, who finished at +10 after a round of six birdies and two bogeys said the format was a welcome change for most of the golfers.

“I enjoy it, we play 72-hole stroke play every damn week," Turner said, "This is a format that encourages you to be a little bit more aggressive and you've got to think a little bit more about it because of that.”

The revised stableford scoring system ensures players are rewarded with two points for a birdie, five for an eagle, and eight for an albatross. They get nothing for a par, lose one point for a bogey and lose three for a double bogey or worse.

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