Relentless work attempting to rediscover his short game has helped Cameron Smith stay in touch during a muggy Australian PGA Championship opening round that saw the big guns fire.<\/p>\n
Three-time champion Smith, a former world number two and major winner without a title in more than two years, woke at 2:45am for his Thursday round and carded a 2-under 69 to begin the $2.5 million event.<\/p>\n
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, China’s Wenyi Ding, Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen and Anthony Quayle, who had star caddie Steve Williams on his bag, shared the early clubhouse lead at 4-under, while drawcards Adam Scott and Min Win Loo (3-under) both carded rounds of 68.<\/p>\n
Lee’s approach to the final hole hit the pin in a rough slice of luck, forcing him to settle for par after Smith had drained a 10-metre birdie putt.<\/p>\n
Former world number one Scott, a two-time winner of the event before the move back to Brisbane’s Royal Queensland five years ago, birdied his first and 18th holes on an otherwise steady round.<\/p>\n
Fox, playing his first competitive round in two months, immediately found his groove while Elvis Smylie \u2014 playing in his and Scott’s group \u2014 handled the occasion as the mid-morning humidity soared following more overnight storms.<\/p>\n
Earlier, New Zealand’s Kazuma Korobi aced the par-3 17th party hole, making the most of a generous pin location to drill his pitching wedge from 118 metres.<\/p>\n
Smith’s sensational putting and chipping shone when he roared home to win the Open in 2022, but the Queenslander \u2014 the only player to miss all four major cuts this year \u2014 has been searching for that magic ever since.<\/p>\n
On Thursday he made 10 one-putts and 26 in total, and thought the hard work he had put in since returning home to Brisbane might be paying off.<\/p>\n
“I made a lot of good putts from six-to-eight feet, but didn’t make anything outside of that all day, so it was good to see that go in,” he said of his birdie on the ninth.<\/p>\n
“I’ve had one day off and I haven’t hit a lot of balls. I’ve been doing a lot of chipping and putting, trying to get back into that part of my game, getting comfortable with that and it definitely showed today.”<\/p>\n