Australia’s men’s team of David Micheluzzi and Min Woo Lee are leading the way on a mixed opening day at the Spirit International in Texas.
The Aussie pair combined for a 7-under best ball opening round to be second on the men’s leaderboard, while in the women’s event, Victoria’s Joanna Charlton and Queensland’s Gennai Goodwin are tied for 19th on 2-over par.
Overall, Australia is 5-under when combining the men’s and women’s scores, sitting 16th and nine shots back of the leading Norway outfit.
Played over 54 holes, the Spirit International is a unique Olympic style amateur golf event, that offers gold, silver and bronze medals in five separate competitions; overall, men’s, women’s, men’s individual and women’s individual.
For the Victorian Micheluzzi and WA’s Lee, their round 1 effort was far greater than the sum of its parts, coming in at 7-under despite shooting rounds of 71 and 73 respectively. The pairing are two back of the leaders Norway in the men’s competition, with Korea, Japan and Spain in third on 6-under.
In the individual format, only birdies and eagles count towards deciding the winners. Both Lee and Micheluzzi made four birdies each in their opening rounds, and are just two back of Victor Hivland of Norway and Victor Pastor of Spain.
The men’s competition will be eagerly contested, with the winner earning a start on the 2016 PGA Tour at the Colonial Invitational.