Australia&aposs Adam Scott was more than happy with his opening round 67 at the Australian Masters, but knows he has a lot of hard work ahead if he is to claim his first tournament victory of the year. Scott was out bright and early at Kingston Heath in Melbourne on Thursday morning and used the friendly conditions to his advantage to open up a one-shot lead midway through the opening day. The world No.5 made six birdies and dropped a solitary stroke during his impressive round and is in pole position to break his tournament drought on the Melbourne sandbelt course. But Scott is taking nothing for granted and said he needs to continue to play just as well in his final 54 holes if he is to claim his inaugural gold jacket. “I played good today and it is a good start, but you need four good days to win I believe,” Scott said after his round. “I didn&apost take advantage of my good play on my first nine holes, but I certainly did on my back nine so that made up for it.” After starting at the 10th hole, Scott made a bogey at the tough par-four 18th to make the turn at level par, before a run of five birdies in seven holes on his back nine set up his score. Scott holed long birdie attempts at the 2nd and 4th holes and felt he could have scored even lower had he made more putts on his opening nine. “Today was a perfect day (for scoring) as the course&aposs defences were down,” Scott said. “There was no wind and the greens were soft and not very fast. “Realistically I thought nine or 10 (under) was possible the way I played today if everything went my way. “But I am not complaining, it is a good start.” Scott will be back in action on Friday afternoon, but whether he is still in the lead or chasing down one of the fellow big names in the tournament remains to be seen. “Hopefully I won&apost be chasing too much of a score down, but you never know,” he said. “I am not off until the afternoon tomorrow and guys get 36 holes to play before I tee off. “So I could be five or six shots back before I tee off and I will have to go out and play another solid round to keep in touch.”
Author: Jonathan Healy at Kingston Heath, Omnisport