Brendan Jones second on Emirates Australian Open leaderboard
At the Emirates Australian Open, The Lakes, Brendan Jones has the opportunity to throw himself into hyper drive and get a head start in the tournament before big boys, Justin Rose and Adam Scott, come out to play.
The tournament began on a windy Thursday afternoon, but Jones’ putting and long drives held against what to golfers are gale storms.
Defying the obstacles Mother Nature threw his way, he managed an elegant first round of four-under 68.
The conditions have not eased yet, and, probably, will not be letting up throughout the tournament. Jones can turn that to his advantage.
It gives him that rare occasion to keep the chasing pack within strokes of one another and clustered together well behind him.
The only competition that Jones is facing in contention to the top prize is John Senden, who has thus far led the first round at The Lakes.
The malignant weather conditions have also been a help to Senden on the morning of the opening round. However, he only leads Jones by a paltry two strokes, a gap the Australian can easily manage.
Marcus Fraser trails Jones by a single stroke. Although he seems to be a remarkable poor weather performer – a clear fact with that hole-in-one on the first day – it is unlikely that he will be able to pull off that stunt twice. That stunt put him a stroke
behind Jones in the first place.
Adam Scott and Justin Rose remain the two danger men on the field and are expected to make a move for the top sometime around Friday afternoon.
Scott and world no. 4 Rose will be teeing off at 12:10 alongside one another. 2012 has not been a great golfing year for Rose, who started The Lakes week tied at the sixth place with Steven Jones.
Brendan Jones is prepared to face off. He has been a professional golfer since 1999, having had lost his PGA Tour card after 2005 when the tie for the British Colombia Open was not enough to help him keep his tour card.
Ever since his winning streak on the Japan Golf Tour in 2007, he has been a feature of the Official World Golf Rankings top 100.
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