It was a good opening day at the PGA Championship for the
Australian contingent with three players inside the top-10.

Queenslanders Scott Hend, John Senden and World Number 1
Jason Day all fired opening rounds of 2-under 68 at Baltusrol to be tied 9^th.

Teeing off the 1^st in the morning field, Hend
played a steady game through the front-9 with eight consecutive pars before finding
his first birdie on the par-3 9^th.

Back-to-back bogeys on the 10^th and 11^th
threatened to derail Hend but he kept his composure to reel off three
consecutive birdies in the middle of his round.

Senden’s confidence was given an early boost when he
recorded his first birdie of the 98^th PGA Championship at the par-4
11^th after starting his round on the 10^th.

"I felt like I played really well today. I played solid early
and got off to a good start," said Senden.

"I birdied the 11th hole which made me feel good. The
conditions early were quite gettable, I thought."

Happy with his performance on the challenging layout, Senden
will be riding momentum into the second round.

"I scrambled well today. Plus I hit a lot of good iron
shots," added Senden.

"I think the golf course is really winning at the moment.
It’s bouncy, it’s tough. I’m happy to be in the house at 2-under par. That
gives me good momentum for tomorrow."

Day’s limited preparations may have been a blessing in
disguise with the World Number 1 getting his title defence off to a solid start.

"If you practice Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, you could be
pretty tired with how hot it was. It was in the mid to high 90s. You can get
pretty drained pretty quickly," said Day.

"I’m glad I took Monday, Tuesday off, even though I’m a
little bit under the weather. It was kind of a blessing really to come out
yesterday, play 18 holes real quick and then get out of here."

"For the most part, I feel pretty good about where my head
is at and looking forward to the next three days."

After a tough couple of weeks, Day is gaining confidence in
his game.

"I’m pretty pleased. I’m very excited about how I hit it
today. I hit a lot of good quality shots. It hasn’t been like that lately,"
added Day.

"To be able to go out there and hit it exactly where I’m
going. To see the shot and what I need to do and actually execute it was
exciting for me. Really positive stuff going into the next three rounds."

Adam Scott and Aaron Baddeley are the next best of the
Aussie contingent, each shooting even par rounds.

Marcus Fraser and Marc Leishman are both a further shot back,
while Greg Chalmers and Matt Jones round out the Aussie contingent on 2 and
4-over respectively.