Lucas Herbert, Blake Windred and Stephanie Kyriacou have launched an Aussie assault in Europe as the trio each assumed top spot on three separate leaderboards across the continent.

Playing in his first outright European Tour event since the Saudi International in early February, Herbert converted his strong recent form on the PGA TOUR into an opening 8-under 64 to lead the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open by a shot.

Top-20 at both The Memorial Tournament and Travelers Championship in his past two starts, Herbert started from the 10th tee in the second group of the day, trading a birdie with a bogey on his first two holes.

He two-putted for birdie from 10 feet at the par-5 17th and then dropped a 30-footer at 18 to turn in 3-under and with momentum on his side.

Eyeing off something similar across the front nine at Mount Juliet Estate, Herbert got hot late with three closing birdies on the trot to set an early mark that no other player was able to match.

“Made a really long one on 18 for birdie and that kind of sparked things and got things going,” said Herbert, who was tied for seventh in this event last year. “I felt like I was trying to get to five or six under.

“I didn’t really want to try and just attack really, really hard. It was just try and hit the ball in the right spots, give yourself some looks on the greens and I felt like if I could get to five or 6-under that would be a really good day.

“A few more rolled in and I got to eight.”

It was a strong start too for West Australian Jason Scrivener, who celebrated confirmation of his exemption into The Open Championship in two weeks’ time with a bogey-free 5-under 67 to be in a 15-way tie for fourth, Min Woo Lee (68) a further shot back in a tie for 19th.

Like Herbert, Blake Windred has found form of late, finishing second at the Challenge de Espana last start and firing a 6-under 65 to earn a share of the lead after Round 1 of the Challenge Tour’s Kaskada Golf Challenge in the Czech Republic.

“I feel like my game has been trending the last couple of weeks, that’s for sure, and having no bogeys out there definitely helps,” said Windred, tied with German pair Freddy Schott and Marcel Schneider.

“I rolled a few putts in but in saying that, I gave myself a lot of opportunities and I was able to make six of them, so I’m pretty pleased with that.

“It’s a difficult course. If you miss a few tee shots, it can cost you a few shots. The play is to just stay aggressive. There are a few tee shots where you just have to smoke driver down the middle.”

Now at the halfway mark of the Big Green Open at Rosendaelsche Golf Club, Kyriacou followed up an opening round of 6-under 66 with an even-par 72 to be joined at the top by Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen (68).

The 2020 Ladies European Tour Rookie of the Year had four birdies and four bogeys on her card during the wet conditions that the 20-year-old said impacted her ability to get the pace of her putts dialled in.

“I feel like I could have played a lot better but I’m sure everyone can say that,” Kyriacou said.

“I did miss a couple of small putts, but then I holed a couple of long ones to make up for it. It was really steady golf.

“It was raining a little bit more this morning than it was last night. The greens were a little bit slow, and I think I struggled there. If it is going to be good weather, then I should be okay.

“There are still two more rounds and especially on this course, with it being so tight anything can happen in 36 holes of golf.”

Rounding out an extraordinary day for Australian golf in Europe, West Australian Kirsten Rudgeley became the first Aussie to win the Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Open at Troon Portland.

Rudgeley birdied three of her final four holes in a final round of 6-under 66, her three-round total of 12-under 204 one shot clear of local hope Hannah Darling (71) and England’s Emily Toy (69).

“Getting an international win was definitely on my bucket list and to my name on such a great trophy means a lot,” said Rudgeley.