Clark, Hend ride out storm

Clark: share of lead

First round leaderboard:
(Aus unless stated)
T Clark (SA) -5 (18)
S Hend -5 (18)
A Browne -3 (18)
D Wardrop (Eng) -5 (18)
M Wright -5 (18)
C Downes -3 (13)

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Scott Hend and Tim Clark share the clubhouse lead after a first round of the Australian Masters that was buffeted by bad weather.

Play was suspended for three hours at one point as a violent electrical storm swarmed over the Huntingdale Golf Club in Melbourne.

Hailstones, lightning and a succession of heavy showers pounded the course and, as a result of the subsequent delay, a total of 48 players were unable to complete their first rounds.

As one of the early starters Hend avoided the storms but did master swirling winds expertly as he returned a five-under-par 67 that featured six birdies and just a single dropped shot.

"My target was to be as aggressive as possible downwind, and then just try and make a par into the wind," Hend explained. "It was just aggressive then defensive, back and forward."

Clark's round was interrupted by the adverse weather later on, but the suspension proved a blessing in disguise for the South African who returned to find much calmer conditions and promptly picked up two further strokes over his four remaining holes to join Hend at the top of the leaderboard.

"Obviously the wind was a lot calmer and from a different direction and the greens had softened up so it was a totally different course," Clark explained.

"It was tough this morning with the wind but I was happy with how I was playing this morning, too, so overall, I'll take that score."

Two eagles

Indeed, Clark had every reason to be pleased with his efforts in the morning as he produced not one, but two eagles at the par-five seventh and tenth holes.

"I had two eagles all year on the US Tour so that was quite a shock for me, but downwind they were reachable and that was where you had to make your score up on a day like this," he added.

As well as his late birdies at 15 and 16, the South African also birdied the third with his only dropped shots of the day coming at 11 and 13.

He and Australian Hend enjoy a two-shot lead over Englishman Daniel Wardrop and three more Aussies, Anthony Brown, Michael Wright and Chris Downes - although the latter still has five holes of his round to complete.

Swede Daniel Chopra heads a group of eight players in a tie for seventh a shot further back at two-under that also includes Englishman Simon Griffiths and Australian veteran Peter Senior.

Pre-tournament favourite Robert Allenby signed for a one-over-par 73, while the second highest-ranked player in the field, Stuart Appleby, was a shot worse off after a 74.

American John Daly, making his first appearance in Australia for six years, endured a typically see-saw round that included a birdie, an eagle but also seven bogeys as he finished on four-over.

Daly admitted afterwards that he had failed to come to terms with the strong winds, commenting: "It was blowing from the get-go. This was just a day when I 'supposed' on so many shots instead of knowing."