It was an early alarm for everyone at the Australian PGA
Championship after the first round was restarted at 5.30am this morning.

Putting some early birdies on the scorecard was Harold
Varner III and Ashley Hall who join Andrew Dodt in the lead at 7-under the card
after the first round was completed.

"I got it going on the last two holes, a good way to
finish.  Obviously, ready to go this
morning – it feels like afternoon," said Varner, who set his alarm for
2.45am today.

"It
gets light here at 4.10, 4.20, so it’s not too bad and it’s
not cold when you get up, so that kind of helps.

While the overnight suspension was less than ideal, Hall
found a way to work it to his advantage.  

"I
think everyone set a new record for alarms this morning, so definitely
worthwhile for me," said
Hall.

"I kind of planned it pretty good.  I had a second shot into the par-5 that was a
little bit iffy yesterday, whether I go for it into the wind, but we come out
here, first thing in the morning, there’s no wind and
it’s not a question. 

"I can hit it on in two and two putt for birdie. I
certainly took my time and waited for the guys to get off the green last
night.  I thought they were going to blow
it pretty soon and it worked out to my advantage."

Matthew Griffin is a shot further back at 6-under the card
with the Victorian chasing the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Order of
Merit.

"I
guess it makes the 3am alarm worthwhile, making three this morning was really
good,"
said Griffin, who made three birdies after play resumed.

"The
best way is to control my own destiny, so the better I play, the harder it is
for anyone behind to catch me and there are some good players, so I’ve just got to keep that mindset and just
look after my own job and whatever the other guys do, they do."

It was a quick turnaround for the players with just 45
minutes for them to prepare for the second round after completing their drawn
out first round.

The field is now on course in the second round.