With over half a round still to play for much of the afternoon field, the heavens opened in the Latrobe Valley bringing players into the clubhouse and leaving the West Aussie in a promising position.

Earlier in the day swirling winds and threatening rain weren’t able to halt a charging Watt from setting a blistering pace to take the early lead at 4-under the card.

“I played solid, I’m happy with my game. With the weather forecast it’s nice to shoot 4-under with a whole wave of the field going out there,” Watt said.

Watt’s Gippsland Super 6 run endured a tough start with back-to-back bogeys at holes 12 and 13.

Birdies on 16 and 18 moved him back to even-par but it was his front-nine efforts that made the biggest impact.

“I eagled (hole) five, the first par-5 on the front-nine. I holed a putt off the green which was good,” he said.

“I just keep it in play off the tee and try not to fight the breeze too much. If you hit it solid it kind of forces it to the middle of the green.

“I wasn’t too aggressive, aiming at flags or anything, just trying to get it on the putting surface was pretty much what I did all day today.”

Now acclimatised to the chilly Victorian weather since moving to the garden state early in 2019, the former no. 1 amateur in the world was ready to face icy conditions when he teed off at 7:50am.

“I’ve been living here since the start of the year so I’ve gathered jackets and hand warmers and all the gear so I felt pretty prepared today going out in these conditions,” he said.

“It’s a beautiful course. We didn’t get any rain this morning so that was good but the wind definitely made up for it.

“The concept is great and I’m really looking forward to seeing what Yallourn has to offer over the next few days.”

Afternoon competitor Frazer Droop was the best on course when the horn blew after firing up the leaderboard through six holes to sit one stroke behind Watt at 3-under the card.

“I don’t think I’ve hit a shot above head height yet. It’s blowing a gale and there was a bit of rain that’s suspended play,” Droop said.

The ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia team took to the Yallourn layout with squeegees in hand mid-afternoon but to no avail as rain continued to pour.

Round 1 will recommence at 7:00am on Friday morning with round two tee times to be advised.

For scores from the Gippsland Super 6 click here.