Three share lead at delayed Victorian PGA
BY iseekgolf.com | Von Nida Tour | 2006 Victorian PGA Championship | Round One | 26 Jan 2006
Marcus Cain mastered the difficult closing stretch of holes at Sanctuary Lakes to share the lead after the opening round of the 2006 National Australia Bank Victorian PGA Championship.
Cain shared top-billing with Andrew Johnson and defending champion Cameron Percy after the trio each shot 68 – four under par.
One shot adrift is a group of young guns headed by Ewan Porter, the dux of last month’s Q-School, and also including Victorians Luke Hickmott and Brent O’Donoghue.
Nick Flanagan signed for a 70 just before an electrical storm swept across Melbourne’s western suburbs causing a brief suspension of play.
Joining the former Unites States amateur champion on that score were Tour veteran Anthony Painter, Wayne Perske and Ben Bloomfield.
The highlight of Cain’s terrific opening round at Sanctuary Lakes was a two on the par-three 17th where he smashed a driver to within half a metre of the flagstick.
“I had 200 metres to the hole, that’s how strong the wind was, and I hit it to a foot (half a metre). Apart from that tee shot, though, being able to drive it well around here can really set up some good angles into the greens. And that’s what I’ll need to keep doing to win this week.”
Cain once spent a week with Karrie Webb as Greg Norman’s house guest in Hobe Sound.
“Yeah, we had a great time in Florida at Greg’s,” Cain said.
“We played golf together every day at quite a few different courses and also got to see Universal Studios. It was a experience money can’t buy and I look back on it as a memorable time in my life.”
Cain has several tournament wins on his list of other credits, none better than the Tour Championship he won at Royal Canberra in 1999.
Joint leader Andrew Johnson captained the South Australian state team as an amateur before recently venturing into the professional ranks.
He was one of the very few to compile a bogey-free round on a day that saw some incredibly high scores recorded on individual holes.
“My putting was a real strength for me today,” Johnson said. “I holed a few bombs for birdies, but I also made all the short ones, and they really count when it comes to adding up your score.”
Play was suspended with a few groups still to complete their first 18 holes after a fierce electrical storm struck Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Source – PGA Australia
Photo – Anthony Powter
