McLeod thought early on that a 2-under-par score that would leave him five shots behind the morning leaders would be a pleasing result given the difficult conditions he was facing.

He ended up smashing that mark, posting an 8-under-par 62, including playing the last six holes in 5-under, to lead NSW-based trio Corey Lamb, Harrison Crowe and Nathan Barbieri by a shot.

It’s the second consecutive Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia event that McLeod has led after round one. He ended up finishing equal fifth at Webex Players Series Perth at Royal Fremantle.

“Once we got to about hole eight, (the wind) started pumping. It was pretty crazy out there,” the former Order of Merit champion said.

“I was only a couple under at that time and I was just hoping to finish a couple under, to be honest, in that wind.

“I never really hit any trouble. It was pretty much every fairway, most probably 16 greens or something, so that was very impressive in that sort of wind, being able to control the ball like that.”

Lamb, Crowe and Barbieri all played in the benign morning conditions, as did the leading woman, Lydia Hall from Wales, and another New South Welshman, Andrew Campbell, who finished with 6-under-par 64s.

With two T2s and a third place on his record this season to be seventh overall on the Order of Merit, Lamb is the highest ranked player on the season long points list in the field this week and he played like it today with seven birdies and no bogeys on his card.

Playing his first event for 2025, the 23-year-old rattled home with four birdies in his closing six holes.

Lamb was quick to sing the praises of his new Callaway Elyte driver which kept him on the short grass on all but one occasion after a pre-event tweak worked almost to perfection.

“It is pretty elite,” he said.

“I didn’t really like it on Tuesday and then Coops (Daniel Cooper), the Callaway guy, put it down a degree (from 10.5 to 9.5 degrees) and it come out a lot better. I thought ‘Why not give it a go? I mean, I love new stuff, so it was, why not?’.”

“I feel comfortable hitting it.”

Crowe, who had top-10s at both the BMW Australian PGA Championship and ISPS HANDA Australian Open, is also chasing the benefits a strong Order of Merit finish can bring and has committed to playing the rest of the local Tour season.

“I had a really, really lovely break over Christmas,” he said.

“I think I had about three or four weeks off the clubs, so definitely come back very refreshed for sure.”

Barbieri hit 16 out of 18 greens in his bogey-free 63 on one of his favourite courses on Tour to visit.

“A lot of people think this is my home track,” Barbieri said.

“I’m obviously from Sydney, so this is my home track in Melbourne, I think. I don’t mind this joint. It suits my game well and everything sort of falls together here which is nice.”

Former Ladies British Masters champion Lydia Hall may be from much further away from the Mornington Peninsula, around 17,000km in fact, but doesn’t mean the Welshwoman doesn’t feel at home.

“Australia is always a place that I love to come to,” Hall said.

“Last year was a bit scrappy on the European Tour, but I managed to finish it off with a nice win at Duntryleague. So the form has been good and I played solidly today.

“I absolutely love playing with the guys. They’re so aggressive with their golf and there’s so much to be learned and respected from their game.

“I did pretty well a couple of years ago here. I think it was in the last couple of groups and finished sixth to 10th. So I’ve had good memories from this course.”

Another person right at home at Rosebud, the three-time club champion James Marchesani, threatened to go very low on day one, turning in six-under-par 29.

Playing alongside his brother Anthony, the reigning Rosebud club champion, Marchesani’s momentum stalled with a bogey on his 10th hole, the par-4 first, and he eventually came home in 1-over 36 to post a 5-under-par 65. Anthony carded a 1-over 71.

Reigning Vic Open champion Ashley Lau and West Australian Abbie Teasdale, who won the Drummond Golf Melbourne International last week, are the second highest-placed women, at 5-under.

Peter and Chloe Wilson created history when they teed off, becoming the first father-daughter combination to play professionally in the same Tour event, Peter eventually taking the family honours with a 68 to Chloe’s 78.

TV COVERAGE: Webex Players Series Victoria is live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.
*All times AEDT.
Round 3:  Saturday 3pm-6pm (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)
Final Round:  Sunday 1pm-6pm (Fox Sports 503/Kayo)