First Round:  Australian veteran Steve Elkington has wound back the clock to head the Australian charge at the Players Championship in Florida. The 45-year-old fired an opening-round 69 at the famous Sawgrass TPC to be three shots shy of first-day frontrunner Sergio Garcia of Spain. Elkington, who last won the tournament referred to as golf's 'fifth major' back in 1997 (and also in 1991), was one of the first out on the course and benefited from the calm conditions. Garcia was another early riser to cash in, taking advantage of idyllic morning conditions to record seven birdies in a six-under-par 66, heading Americans Kenny Perry and Paul Goydos by two strokes. Aaron Baddeley (71) joined Elkington in the red to be the only other Australian to break par with Rod Pampling (72) and Stuart Appleby even with the card.
 
Leader: Sergio Garcia (Spain) -6, 66
Steve Elkington -3, 69
Aaron Baddeley – 1, 71
Rod Pampling, Stuart Appleby, E, 72
Nick O’Hern, +1, 73
Mathew Goggin, Michael Campbell NZL, Robert Allenby +2, 74
Adam Scott, Matthew Jones +3, 75
John Senden +4, 76
Geoff Ogilvy, Stephen Leaney, Tim Wilkinson NZL, Peter Lonard +5, 77
Nathan Green, Mark Hensby +6, 78
 


NATIONWIDE TOUR: FORT SMITH CLASSIC PRESENTED BY STEPHENS INC.
 HARDSCRABBLE CC, FT. SMITH, ARKANSAS
Australasian Field: Steven Bowditch, Stephen Dartnell, Scott Gardiner, Brad Lamb, Brad Iles NZL, Won Joon Lee, David Lutterus, Wade Ormsby, Cameron Percy, Phil Tataurangi NZL
 
First Round: Aussies Cameron Percy and David Lutterus are two shots of the lead at the Fort Smith Classic where the American trio of Tommy Gainey, Matt Weibring and Kris Cox are in a three way tie at the top of the leaderboard. The aussie duo are in a group of six who fired a four under 66 first round on one of the Nationwide Tour’s shortest courses. At 6,783 yards, host Hardscrabble Country Club in Fort Smith, Arizona is 998 yards shorter than Kinderlou Forest the course that was played last week. Sydney’s Won Joon Lee is one shot back (67) with Wade Ormsby and Steven Bowditch even with the card.
 
Leaders: Tommy Gainey (USA), Matt Weibring (USA) and Kris Cox (USA), -6, 64
Cameron Percy, David Lutterus -4, 66
Won Joon Lee -3, 67
Wade Ormsby, Steven Bowditch E, 70
Scott Gardiner, Brad Iles NZL +1, 71
Stephen Dartnell + 2, 72
Brad Lamb, +3, 73
Phil Tataurangi NZL +4, 74
 

ASIAN TOUR/JAPAN TOUR: PINE VALLEY BEIJING OPEN, PINE VALLEY GOLF RESORT & CC, CHINA
Australasian Field: Adam Blyth, Marcus Both. David Bransdon, Ben Burge, Tony Carolan, Gavin Flint, David Gleeson, Adam Groom, Scott Hend, Craig Jones, Eddie Lee NZL, Richard Lee NZL, Unho Park, Stephen Scahill NZL, Gary Simpson, Kane Webber
 
First Round: Australia’s Tony Carolan is just one stroke off the lead after firing a first round 6 under 66 at the Pine Valley Beijing Open in China. Thailand’s Chinnarat Phadungsil birdied his last three holes on the back nine for a solid seven-under-par 65 and matched the performance of early pace setter Malaysian Iain Steel to sit at the top of the pack on 7 under. Scott Hend is two shots back in a tie for 9th with David Bransdon, Kane Webber, Marcus Both and Unho Park T23 on 2 under.
 
Leaders: Iain Steel (Malaysia), Chinnarat Phadungsil (Thailand) -7, 65
Tony Carolan -6, 66
Scott Hend -4, 68
David Bransdon, Kane Webber, Unho Park, Marcus Both -2, 70
Adam Groom, Eddie Lee NZL, Gary Simpson, Adam Blyth E, 72
Richard Lee NZL, Craig Jones, Gavin Flint + 1, 73
Stephen Scahill NZL +2, 74
Ben Burge, David Gleeson +3, 75
 



EUROPEAN TOUR: METHORIOS CAPITAL ITALIAN OPEN, CASTELLO DI TOLCINASCO G & CC, MILAN, ITALY
Australasian Field: Steve Alker NZL, Scott Barr, Peter Fowler, Marcus Fraser, Matthew Millar, Gareth Paddison NZL, Terry Pilkadaris
 
First Round: Australian Marcus Fraser and New Zealand's Gareth Paddison share 14th place alongside American big-hitter John Daly after the first round of the Italian Open in Milan. The trio is among a group of 10 players on five-under-par after solid opening-day rounds of 67. Englishman Ross McGowan equaled the lowest round of his brief European Tour career to share the overnight lead with Paraguayan Marco Ruiz at eight-under. Fraser started perfectly with a birdie on his opening hole and an eagle on the 9th but those shots were cancelled out with bogeys on the 8th and 10th. The Australian recovered well, however, to post four birdies on the inward nine to be well in contention just three strokes behind the leaders. Paddison, meanwhile, had a mixed start with two bogeys and a birdie on the first fives holes, before coming home strongly with an eagle and four birdies. Aussie Matthew Millar is just one stroke behind, in a large group at four-under.
 
Leaders: Ross McGowan (England), Marco Ruiz (Paraguay) -8, 64
Marcus Fraser, Gareth Paddison -5, 67
Matthew Millar -4, 68
Scott Barr -2, 70
Peter Fowler E, 72
Steve Alker NZL +3, 75
Terry Pilkadaris +9, 81