Robert Allenby is three shots off the lead in joint fourth place after a first round four-under-par 68 at the Ginn Sur Mer Classic on Thursday (US time). Fellow Australian Nick O Hearn is a further shot back while Peter Lonard and Matt Jones head a big group at two-under. Michael Letzig and Kent Jones carded bogey-free opening round seven-under-par 65s to lead the tournament in its opening stages. After his first birdie on the par-three third, Letzig reeled off three straight from the sixth before the American, who has four top-10 finishes in 28 events this season, added three more on the back nine. Jones reached the turn in two-under before propelling himself up the leaderboard with five birdies on the way home. Starting on the back nine, Ryan Palmer (67) opened with three birdies in his first six holes to finish on 67 and outright third. Ginn sur Mer Classic, Florida Results Round 1 (Par 72) -7: Kent Jones 65, Michael Letzig 65 -5: Ryan Palmer 67 -4: Robert Allenby (Australia) 68, Cameron Beckman 68, James Driscoll 68, Tom Scherrer 68 -3: Mathias Gronberg 69, Nick O Hern (Australia) 69, Vaughn Taylor 69, Chris Stroud 69 -2: Peter Lonard (Australia) 70, Matt Jones (Australia) 70, Jeff Gove 70, Lee Janzen 70, Steve Lowery 70, John Huston 70, Kenneth Ferrie 70, Rod Perry 70, Robert Garrigus 70, Bo Van Pelt 70, Bob Tway 70, Ken Duke 70, Bob Sowards 70, Jason Dufner 70, Kyle Thompson** Also: -1: Gavin Coles (Australia) 71 E: Brett Rumford (Australia) 72, Michael Sim (Australia) 72 +1: Nick Flanagan (Australia) 73, Andrew Buckle (Australia)**, Grant Waite (New Zealand) 73 +2: David Lutterus (Australia) 74, Tim Wilkinson (New Zealand) 74 +3: Steve Allan (Australia) 75 +5: Jason Day (Australia) 77 +6: Mark Hensby (Australia) 78 +9: Nathan Green (Australia) 81 **: These players have had their rounds suspended due to darkness.