Very little change at Kingston Heath
BY Bruce Young | Australasian PGA Tour | 2009 Australian Masters | Round One | 12 Nov 2009
When play drew to a close on the opening day of the JB Were Masters at Kingston Heath, the trio who led after the morning round were still at the top of the leaderboard, Tiger Woods, Branden Grace and James Nitties, taking a one shot lead into day two after their rounds of six under 66.
That none of those who played in the afternoon were able to match the scoring of earlier in the day despite the still mild conditions reveals the subtleties in the design of the golf course. Even a gentle breeze can add another dimension to the already quality layout.
The three who lead will face those issues tomorrow, all things being equal.
Of the leading eight players at the end of day one play, only Mathew Goggin (68) played in the afternoon side of the draw with Rick Kulacz, Rohan Blizard, Stuart Appleby and Ashley Hall the only others amongst the afternoon field to finish with rounds better than 70. They had rounds of 69.
Goggin is owed a victory in Australia having finished runner up in each of his last two starts in this country at the 2008 Australian Open and PGA Championships. His only victory at home came at the 1998 Tour Championship in Canberra.
43 players are under par at the end of day one and if playing conditions are similar tomorrow then a cut score of around 1 over is likely to make the cut.
