PERTH, Australia: Australia’s Brett Rumford and Mark Foster of England shared the first-round lead at the European Tour’s revolutionary new World Super 6 Perth event at Lake Karrinyup on Thursday.
The Perth native fired an opening round six-under 66 along with Foster.
There were 21 players within two shots of the lead as players vied to make it into Sunday’s innovative new six-hole match play knockout format.
The European Tour is trying to sex up golf for a 21st century audience and hopes the Perth event, and the recently announced GolfSixes over two days in England, in May will attract a new generation of fans.
A regular cut will take place after Friday’s second round of strokeplay before the field is cut to 24 players for Sunday’s finale in what is a first for the European Tour.
Rumford, who finished fifth at the Australian PGA Championship on the Gold Coast last December, said he was looking to continue his good form in his homeland after losing playing privileges last season.
“I actually feel as though the year has kind of been flipped on its head and I don’t really feel any pressure whatsoever,” Rumford said.
“I don’t feel pressure to win but my focus is on purely winning every golf tournament I’m trying to get into.”
Raumford, 39, made birdies on the tenth, 11th, 14th and 15th — with a dropped shot on the 13th — to turn in 33 before picking up further shots on the first and fourth.
Foster also turned in 33 and then added further gains on the first, fourth and fifth to join the lead.
The Englishman also lost his tour card last year but quickly reclaimed it at the qualifying school and is embarking on a 16th consecutive season on Tour.
“I’m pleasantly surprised,” he said. “You come all this way and you don’t know what to expect and, obviously, as the round went on it got better so I was really pleased.
“You just come down, you want to give yourself a chance, so I came down early because I’ve not been playing anything, so that was the best thing I probably could have done.”
There was a group of 10 players a shot off the lead containing American duo Casey O’Toole and Johannes Veerman, Englishman Robert Dinwiddie, German Sebastian Heisele and Japan’s Hideto Tanihara.
Thailand’s Thitiphun Chuayprakong, Phacara Khongwatmai and Pavit Tangkamolprasert were among those on four under.
The 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa was three shots off the lead and Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen was a stroke further back after a two-under 70. — AFP
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