Ryan Fox. Photo: photosport
Ryan Fox emerged happy from a taxing opening round at the Australian Open in Melbourne, sharing the top of the leaderboard with Australia's Elvis Smylie and Mexican Carlos Ortiz.
Strong winds at the Royal Melbourne course dominated day one, with world number two Rory McIlroy among those to struggle, finding himself languishing in a share of 57th on one-over.
Fox was more composed, shooting a six-under 65 which featured eight birdies and two bogeys.
The 38-year-old made a rapid start to his round with a tidy approach to the second, an up-and-down at the driveable third and a long putt from off the green at the fourth to complete a hat-trick of birdies.
A smart tee-shot on the seventh had him four-under and while he dropped a shot before the turn, he sandwiched a two-putt gain at the 14th with a pair of smart approaches to share the lead.
Ryan Fox. Photo: photosport
A second bogey of the day came on the next but he hit back on the par-five 17th to once again find the summit.
"I would've taken even par on Friday," Fox said.
"This golf course is tricky enough. There's obviously a lot of trouble, especially with all the crosswinds. It's pretty wide off the tee for the most part, if you hit the right club, but with all the crosswinds, you can get yourself in a lot of trouble.
"So I was very happy I managed to stay away from all the bad stuff on Friday and holed a couple of putts early and sort of kept me on my way and hung on through the middle, through the really tough stretch of holes there, and then took advantage of the par fives and a couple of good wedge shots coming home."
Fox won twice on the PGA Tour this year, but following a break did not make the return to the Australasian Tour that he wanted to last week, finishing 12 strokes off the pace in a share of 39th at the Australian PGA Championship in Brisbane.
New Zealander Daniel Hillier, who finished in a share of fifth last week, continued his consistent form with an opening 68 in Melbourne to share seventh.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
