The new Kurrai Course at Nudgee Golf Club along with intermittent rain throughout the morning kept the scoring largely in check, Micheluzzi’s bogey-free four-under 68 the pick of the early groups.

West Australian amateur Josh Greer (69) and veteran Matt Millar (69) got to five-under during their rounds before dropping shots late, finishing level in a share of second with Sydney’s John Lyras at three-under.

Coming off a confidence-building tie for ninth at last week’s Fortinet Australian PGA Championship, Micheluzzi needed just 26 putts on Thursday with a Scotty Cameron Phantom X picked specifically for the course conditions.

Normally a proponent of a blade putter on the firm Melbourne greens that can run as quick as 13 on the Stimpmeter, Micheluzzi opted for the extra stability of the mallet-style for the Queensland swing and it delivered the goods in his opening round.

“I just holed a lot of putts which was nice because I haven’t been rolling it that great leading up to last week,” said Micheluzzi, who holed a birdie putt from almost 30 feet on the par-3 eighth.

“I rolled it really good today, I think it’s the Queensland greens, I just like them.

“I holed a lot of footage of putts today which was quite nice.”

Overnight rain made the Nudgee greens somewhat more receptive on Thursday, the rain that at times fell heavily during the morning making it hard to stay in rhythm.

While he expects his early mark to be overtaken by day’s end, Micheluzzi was enjoying seeing his name at the top through his first 18 holes.

“We had to wait on 18 for a bit because you couldn’t actually get out there and hit the shot so very stoked with four-under with the way I hit it,” he added.

“You’ve just got to manage yourself really well around the course and I feel like I did that today.

“It’s out there. The greens are rolling perfect so you’re going to hole some putts. I’m shocked a little bit but at the same time it was hosing down out there.

“I’m pretty stoked actually to be up on top at the moment but I don’t know how long it will last.”

At 4-under @DavidMicheluzzi is the current Rd 1 Leader at the #QldPGA ⛳️

Live Scores: https://t.co/7hP7B75ooN#visitbrisbane | @visitbrisbane | @NudgeeGolfClub1 pic.twitter.com/xgzrjmsOF6

— #QldPGA | PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) January 20, 2022

Fourth at last week’s Master of the Amateurs in Melbourne, Greer reached five-under on the back of birdies at 14 and 16 until a wayward tee shot at the par-5 17th cost him the outright lead.

He made par at the par-3 18th for a round of three-under and intends to continue his aggressive approach into Friday’s second round.

“If you’d asked me what I would want to shoot before I teed it up I would have taken three-under. I played pretty solid,” said Greer, who unsuccessfully tried to play out of the hazard on 17.

“At the start of the day I said to try and go for everything and try and make as many birdies as I could.

“I knew I was going to have a few bad holes so that’s all right.”

Drama for Josh Greer at 17. Tee shot at 17 went left into the hazard and this attempted recovery did not make it out. Needs to get up and down for double bogey. #QldPGA pic.twitter.com/KW3ij86J7c

— #QldPGA | PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) January 20, 2022

It was a positive start too for John Lyras who struggled last week at Royal Queensland following the passing of his grandmother, Dimitra.

Lyras missed the cut with rounds of 74-75, his heavy heart making it difficult to focus on the task at hand.

“My grandmother passed away the beginning of PGA week and that presented its own challenge,” said Lyras, who birdied 17 and 18 to close out his round of 69 on Thursday.

“It made last week very difficult. I wasn’t ready to play golf and hadn’t had a great preparation and unfortunately preparation is everything.

“You need to go into a tournament feeling good physically and mentally about your game and about yourself and I wasn’t last week.

“I feel a lot better this week so hopefully I can enjoy it a little more than last week.

“She was very special to me and my mother. She never got to come and watch me play golf unfortunately so hopefully I can do myself proud this week and do her proud.”

Six players in the afternoon wave are one-under on their rounds with Australian PGA champion Jed Morgan one-over through two holes.

Click here for live scoring.

Morgan (pictured, left) and Sim (pictured, right) shared centre stage on Wednesday as Nudgee officials unveiled the new Kurrai Course for the first time, the James Wilcher design named in consultation with the local Turrbal people and which means ‘sunset’.

The Kurrai Course is a dramatic departure from Royal Queensland Golf Club just down the road with its narrower fairways and new greens requiring a more strategic approach to how players navigate each hole.

Although in awe of Morgan’s record-breaking 11-stroke victory on Sunday, Sim believes the style of the golf course plays into his favour.

“Seeing the course yesterday, it’s different,” said Sim, who played nine holes on Tuesday and then all 18 during Wednesday’s pro-am.

“Last week you could pretty much hit driver on every hole and this week will be more placement. And that’s golf. Not every course is suitable for every golfer and I think this course is a bit more suited towards me.

“A lot more irons where last week you almost couldn’t lose a ball off the tee. It was a matter of tee up driver and hit it as hard as you can whereas this week it’s a totally different course, more placement (from the tee) and then play into the greens from there.

“It’s going to take a lot of patience. You’re going to have to play to the corners of the doglegs and keep out of the hazards, play to the middle of the greens and sink your putts from there.”

Much was made of Morgan’s home-course advantage last week as he equalled the Australian PGA record of 22-under par.

It was also the site of his 2020 Australian Amateur title – the only player to win both titles at the same venue – but the 22-year-old with the world at his feet is adamant he can adapt to what will be asked of him at Nudgee.

“The greens are very unorthodox. They’re something that I’ve never seen before. I’ve seen similar ones at Royal Queensland, they’re a bit more bowl-like slopes, these are a lot sharper slopes,” Morgan suggested.

“You’ve definitely got to hit it into position a lot more off the tee whereas last week we had paddocks to hit into. This week we’ve got more of a runway strip.

“Your idea of being a professional golfer is being able to compete week to week regardless of how you performed the week before.

“That’s what you’ve got to do every week. Week to week you’ve got to niggle with your game a little bit and adapt to the situation.

“You’ve got to keep finding ways to perform because that’s what makes players so great.”

If anyone understands the situation Morgan suddenly finds himself it is Sim.

The No.1-ranked amateur in 2005, Sim had played his way onto the PGA TOUR by 2007 before stress fractures in his back caused a constant disruption to his professional career.

He has won a total of seven tournaments during his career and this week gets to do something for the first time; defend one.

It’s been almost two years since Sim defeated great mate Scott Arnold in a playoff at City Golf Club in Toowoomba for the second of his two ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia titles yet this week marks the first time he has had the opportunity to defend one.

“I was thinking about it during the week. I’ve won seven tournaments now and this is the first one I get to defend,” Sim explained.

“I missed one through Covid and another couple in the States because I graduated to the main tour so this is a new experience for me so looking forward to getting going tomorrow.”

Sim’s title defence will begin at 11.15am on Thursday alongside Dimi Papadatos and resident Assistant PGA Professional Matthew Guyatt while Morgan has been drawn with fellow Royal Queensland member Jake McLeod and reigning PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner Brad Kennedy.

Just as Morgan came to the fore on home turf last week, Nudgee members will hope to see former Pennant players Elvis Smylie, Shae Wools-Cobb and James Macklin perform strongly, albeit on a course which they too will be unfamiliar.

First groups are off at 6.15am Thursday morning and entry is free for spectators.  

The young Sydneysider absorbed both as big lessons from her 36 holes playing beside the former PGA Tour star at the Fortinet WPGA Championship at Royal Queensland today.

Kim (69-68) took over as a one-stroke leader from Su Oh (66-72) after Friday’s second round, but she admits she is in heavy learning mode every day as a rookie pro of just four-months’ standing.  Kim grabbed four birdies in her three-under-par 68 when the breeze was down in the morning to reach five under par overall.

LPGA Tour regular Sarah Jane Smith (71-68) made it a tight race-in-three at the top with five birdies of her own in her excellent Friday round to sit three-under and outright third at the halfway point.

Ogilvy (72-73) will miss the cut in the men’s event but his poise still left a significant mark on the 21-year-old Kim watching him from close range.

“I think the biggest lesson is just to be calm and collected on the course,” Kim said.

“Geoff might not be that happy with himself (after his round) but I thought he did really good to just keep in the game and not go too emotional.

“I think towards the end of my (amateur) career I definitely was a bit too emotional with my shots. It was nice to see, even with his career, he’s still able to stay in the present, one shot at a time.

“And his short game…wow. I wish I had a short game (like that).”

Ogilvy’s two rounds included just two birdies yet any number of par saves with elite up-and-downs using little three wood bump-and-runs, pitches to the pin and chips out of the rough.

Kim is renowned as one of the straightest hitters in the 24-strong women’s field this week, but good positions off the tee are only part of taming a tough course.

“Yes, you’ve got to be strategic around this course but I let a couple (of shots) slip putting with a few loose pars,” Kim said.

The 21-year-old from Avondale Golf Club in New South Wales has readjusted her prediction on a winning score having seen how tough Royal Queensland can play with the firm greens, tricky bunkers and the breeze.

“Honestly, seeing how hard the course is I’m not expecting anything too low. Probably between 10-to-15-under I think would be solid for the girls,” Kim said.

Her biggest event as a pro is invaluable preparation for a mid-year jump to the United States when she hopes to gain a good number of starts on the second-tier Symetra Tour.

“I’ve got the majority of the Aussie tournaments coming up, I’ll play all The Players Series and then hopefully head to the US around mid-April or May and start my Symetra schedule,” she said.

Oh followed up her 66 on Thursday by rolling in Friday’s first birdie from off the green on the second hole.

It was an uncharacteristically ragged round from there. She three-putted for par on the seventh and took a bogey on the par three 11th when her three-quarter swing tee shot ran off the back of the green and left her a tricky chip from the rough.

Oh found testing cross-winds hard to judge at times. “I really couldn’t get much going,” she said. “You don’t have to be far off here to miss the green and I probably missed two short putts.

“It’s a scoreable golf course if you get the right shots into the green so I’ll just sort of see what I get and if I have a birdie chance then I better get them on the weekend.”

Smith was in the groove from the outset with three birdies back-to-back from the third with well-made putts after pinpoint irons.

Gold Coast’s Karis Davidson (70-71) saluted the memory of the late Jarrod Lyle on Yellow Day with bold socks and shirt in that colour.

Oh glided in six birdie putts during an impressive five-under-par 66 on Thursday to set the pace at the inaugural Fortinet Australian WPGA Championship at Royal Queensland.    

She shrugged off a tricky breeze, a breakfast tee time and the firm, grainy greens by riding the groove she found from the moment she stepped up at 6.45am.

A pinpoint short iron to under half a metre on her opening hole, the 10th, and a sure right-to-left putt on the next gave her a birdie-birdie springboard.

Oh has been a fixture on the LPGA Tour in the United States for six seasons since her breakout moment when winning the 2015 Volvik RACV Ladies Masters on the Gold Coast in just her second pro event.

The Masters was the event won eight times by the great Karrie Webb, whose name now adorns the trophy being played for by Oh in the 24-strong women’s field at RQ.

“It’s such a honour to be playing for the Karrie Webb Cup. I don’t really want to think about that too much because I still have three days to go but it (winning) would mean a lot,” Oh said.

Oh was delighted with her round but dismissed any theory she is a rare Melburnian who loves Queensland’s grainy greens because of her 2015 success.

“That’s funny. I was thinking about that. I actually don’t like grainy and I don’t like the heat so I’m glad I shot a good score today. A second win in Queensland would be quite nice,” Oh said.

She doesn’t like early starts either but got a pleasant surprise when joining Min Woo Lee and Blake Windred on the 10th tee at 6.45.

“I was coming to the course and they were checking credentials at five o’clock in the morning and I was like, surely there’ll be nobody here,” Oh said.

“I got to the tee and the tee was surrounded. It was really nice to see. Having the men and women playing together hopefully it helps to bring the crowd.

“Maybe everyone likes to get up earlier before the heat here or something. I can tell you in Melbourne, people would not be out there at 6.45.”

Oh thoroughly enjoyed playing beside Min Woo Lee (68) having so often played with his sister Minjee Lee on the LPGA Tour.

“He’s really impressive, short game, pitch shots, bombs it as everybody knows,” Oh said.

“The guys play a different game so it’s sort of nice to see what kind of shots they’ve got. Sometimes I’m like, I hit it a lot straighter than them so it’s also kind of nice to know.”

Oh felt for Steph Kyriacou and Sarah Kemp, who were both late withdrawals from the event because of COVID concerns.

“I just feel really bad for them. I think Steph maybe wasn’t feeling that great so hopefully she’s okay,” Oh said.

Sydneysider Grace Kim (69) pitched to inside two metres on the second hole to grab the first of her four birdies to sit second in the women’s event.

Gold Coast’s Karis Davidson (70) had six birdies but scarred her scorecard with five bogeys and rued pulling a three-metre birdie putt on the final hole.

Jointly placed at one-under-par with Davidson were Julienne Soo (70) and amateur Sarah Wilson (70).

Ogilvy, the 2008 Fortinet Australian PGA Championship winner and one of Australia’s all-time greats, no longer tours as a professional after 20 years in America.

He is focused on his three children, his golf course architecture business, plays a few local tournaments and recently ran a tournament in Melbourne for his own charitable foundation, which fosters opportunities for young golfers.

Yet when he wandered on to the driving range in Brisbane this week, there was some déjà vu rising to the surface.

“It’s a bit like riding a bike,” he said. “I was sort of a bit uncomfortable and I don’t know, just not that comfortable at home for some reason, but as soon as I got on the range yesterday, it was like, ‘I remember this, this is what I do’.

“The short game is usually the question mark when you come back after a long break, but I don’t know, as I said, no expectation.”

Ogilvy is 44, an elder statesman of the game in this country.

Recently he was talking to Lucas Herbert about playing his first Masters at Augusta National, and he offered some advice; the same suggestion that he would put to Min Woo Lee (who is also on debut at Augusta this year) if he were asked. Get to Augusta National early.

“You’re going to be a fan of the Masters and you’re going to be open eyes,” he said.  “It’s like going to Disneyland for a kid the first time you go there. 

“I think you’ve got to get that out of the way, but you’ve got to allow yourself that, because you’ve been waiting your whole life to get there, so you’ve got to go do that.

“So my advice to him, and as it was to Lucas, I said if you can get there early, maybe call Cam (Smith) or ‘Leish’ (Marc Leishman) or ‘Scotty’ (Adam Scott)  or someone and say, ‘are you guys going the week before the tournament?  Can I come and tag along, show me the ropes a little bit?’

“Get it all out of your system. Drive down Magnolia Lane, go in the pro shop, buy all the merchandise, go behind the trees on 13, feel the shot that Phil (Mickelson) hit, do all that stuff.

“Get that stuff out of the way, so that when you come back a week or so later for the Masters that you’ve got that out of the way and you can play a golf tournament.”

Ogilvy’s Sandbelt Invitational in Melbourne recently had a bit of an Augusta feel about it, and he is passionate about the future of tournament golf in Australia. He thinks that in some instances, we have had it wrong.

“I think there’s been far too much focus on prize money and big name players,” he said. “I mean no one really minds who goes to play in the Australian Open tennis. The Melbourne Cup’s the biggest horse race in the world and nobody cares what horses are running, they want to go anyway.

“I think we’ve sat down on Tuesday and Wednesday press conferences for the last 20 years in Australia and say, ‘Isn’t this a shame Geoff, there’s no one playing here this week?’ Who’s going to come and support the tournament when we tell them don’t come because there’s no good players?

“I think all pros are great players. I think we need to focus on building great events, sort of build them from the ground up again. We’ve had this sort of all or nothing approach, that unless it’s a big massive event with the top 10 players in the world, it’s not worth having.

“I think if we can sort of go back to the basics, fundamentally sell events, just put them all on, give somebody the chance to play, build them up, build them up, build them up gradually, and the big name players will gradually come.

“I don’t think you need them for a great tournament. People come to golf tournaments for a couple of reasons. One is because they want to see people hit draws with drivers and people who can do stuff that they can’t do – and everybody here can do that.

“Everyone here is impressive to a club golfer, if you ask me, and two, you go for the contest. It doesn’t matter if it’s the 1000th player in the world versus the 900th best player in the world for one and two, the contest is the contest and that’s exciting – guys holing putts and hitting good shots and coming up with the stuff under pressure.

“I was at the Ashes Test the other day.  It wasn’t really who won or lost that, it was just how good it was to watch and I think all elite sport, including golf, is like that.

“If you have a great contest, it’s appealing to watch and I think if we can focus on that rather than who’s not there, I think we can rebuild and create an unbelievable tour.

“Golf’s a massive sport in Australia, people love it. You’ve just got to give them a reason to come, not give them a reason not to come.”

Whoever holds aloft the Karrie Webb Cup for the first time on Sunday will have a personal story to tell after this new women’s tournament is run side-by-side with the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship.

Australia’s greatest female golfer has inspired, helped, sponsored with a scholarship or been a confidante to nearly all of the 24 women golfers in the field. 

Kemp, 36, certainly feels the special connection playing for a trophy named after Webb. 

“Webbie’s awesome. When I was growing up, she was World No.1. I remember getting my LPGA Tour card and she was one of the first people to email me,” Kemp said. 

“We’ve been lucky enough to have a pretty good relationship and we have a few Queensland-NSW bets throughout the year that embarrass myself and embarrass her which is good. 

“It’s great to be playing for a trophy that’s got her name on it. I’d love to win.” 

Before the 2014 Australian Ladies Masters at Royal Pines, Webb had to cope with a blue, black and white Cronulla jersey rash for nine practice holes with Kemp. 

Kemp’s Cronulla Sharks had beaten Webb’s North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL finals a few months earlier so there was a bet to be squared up. 

Kemp made a pleasing resurgence in 2021. She started last year with a strong joint fifth at the Gainbridge LPGA tournament in Florida where the only four golfers ahead of her were major winners. 

Two further Top 10s and her best-ever finish in a major, when 19^th behind winner Minjee Lee, at the Evian Championship in France, were big positives. 

“There’s no better way to start the year than this tournament, especially playing at home. It’s absolutely perfect,” Kemp said. 

“My coach is here so he can see where my game is at before I head over to the States.”  

Kemp believes her most productive years on the LPGA Tour can still be ahead of her after more than a decade in the US. 

“I finished second on the LPGA and third, fourth, whatever. It would be awesome to get a win but I’m not putting too much pressure on myself,” she said. 

“I had my best year last year. I had a really good chat with Brad Kennedy yesterday. He’s 47 now and he talks about his last 10 years being the best of his career. So, I nailed him down and got some nuggets to take through my next 10 years.” 

Kemp is excited that top female players Su Oh, Steph Kyriacou and Co will partner with the men through the four rounds at Royal Queensland. 

“The Vic Open has been my favourite tournament ever. It’s so cool playing along with the guys, practicing with them and just hitting balls next to them on the range,” she said. 

“I played junior golf and amateur golf with a lot of the boys and I haven’t seen them in 10, 15 years so it’s nice to catch up. I hope we get more mixed events like this. 

“There’s no mindset change in these events with how the men play the course versus how the girls do. I’m still playing against the girls.”

Following 54 holes of stroke play action at Warragul Country Club, the Gippsland Super 6 now moves into the sudden-death match play component, 24 players earning a place in the knockout rounds.

The top eight each receive a bye to advance directly to round two, an advantage McLeod secured following his round of six-under 64 in the third round that was highlighted by an eagle at the short par-4 sixth when he drove the green with 3-wood and converted from 15 feet.

While his surge up the leaderboard was as welcome as it was perhaps unexpected, McLeod knows that when he arrives to the tee on Sunday morning for round two he will be facing an opponent fresh off a first-up win.

“Match play is a weird one,” conceded McLeod, who was one of five players tied at nine-under to secure the final first-round byes after starting round three outside the top 24.

“If you have a win then you’ve had a look at the pins and got a feel for the course but with the bye you get to save some energy hopefully for later in the day.

“I guess it’s an advantage to have the bye because you can’t get knocked out but then again the guy you’re playing against is full of confidence.

“I don’t really know what’s better to be honest.”

Although his results were disappointing on the European Tour this year McLeod returned to Australia buoyed by how he mentally handled the travel component of life on tour.

He began his 2021/2022 PGA Tour of Australasia season with a tie for 41st at the Victorian PGA Championship at Moonah Links last week, gradually building into his summer schedule.

Even this week McLeod has improved round upon round and says it has just taken a few rounds to eliminate the rust-induced mistakes that have punctuated his rounds.

“My game has felt decent the past two weeks but every round has been the same,” said McLeod, the 2018 NSW Open champion.

“I was making a lot of birdies most rounds but a lot of mistakes each round too which was quite frustrating because I was playing good enough to play well.

“It was really up and down but today was my first round where I really felt that I was on top of it all day. My focus was good and I really got a lot out of how I played.

“That’s the first round where I feel like I’ve scored well.”

A teammate of Cameron Smith in Queensland’s 2013 Interstate Teams Matches victory, McLeod has plenty of match play experience to draw upon but says the six-hole matches add an element of urgency.

“Six holes is not long enough to wait for a mistake,” said McLeod.

“I’m a pretty aggressive player anyway so I’ll just stick to that. I hit driver a lot – it’s usually one of my better clubs – so if I can get that going it puts a lot of heat on the other guys, especially on such a short golf course.

“I’ll be quite aggressive I’d say.”

Michael Sim finished atop the leaderboard after 54 holes to lead all qualifiers with Andrew Dodt, Chris Wood, Bryden Macpherson, Daniel Beckmann, Shae Wools-Cobb and Kade McBride also receiving first-round byes.

Round one of matches begins at 6.45am on Sunday morning AEDT.

Photo: Henry Peters