Aussies struggle early at St Andrews

BY Anthony Powter | World Amateur Mens Tour | 2008 St. Andrews Links Trophy | Round One | 07 Jun 2008

The Australian contingent have struggled during the opening round of the St Andrews Links Trophy with Scott Arnold’s opening 73 on the Jubilee course at St Andrews, the best placed Australian at T66 from a field of 144.

Arnold is seven strokes behind joint leaders, Wallace Booth and Callum Macaulay, who opened with rounds of 66, and are a stroke ahead of a pack of six players, including R&A World ranked number 10 and England’s top ranked amateur, Chris Wood.

Tim Stewart opened with a 74 and is the next placed Australian behind Arnold at T87, followed by Stephen Speirs at T103 with a 75. Former Australian Amateur Champion, Rohan Blizard struggled with an opening 79 and is well back in the field, as is Jonathan Painter, who’s opening 81 proved very costly.

The Australians were obviously disappointed with their opening efforts, however, continue to remain optimistic they will produce good results at St Andrews.

“It’s a bit disappointing,” remarked Stewart, who finished his round of 74 with a few bogeys.

“This morning was playing easy and there was the opportunity to post a good score. I’ll need a good one tomorrow on the Old Course, to get myself back into the hunt for Sunday.”

The field will move to the Old Course for tomorrow’s second round, where the top 40 qualifiers will play Sunday’s 36-hole final. If there is to be an Australian playing the final day, they’ll need to produce some solid golf, all of whom are certainly capable of doing.