Jordan Zunic has left his mark on the Palmerston Golf Course
in the first round of the Northern Territory PGA Championship.

Teeing off the 10^th, Zunic was slow to get
started making the turn in just 1-under the card.

However it was the front-9 where the 2015 New Zealand Open
champion really ignited. He posted six birdies, four consecutively, on his way
to firing 7-under 64.

"It’s always nice to start off a tournament well. I was
feeling really nice over the ball and managed to hole some putts. I am wrapt
with the way I started," said Zunic.

"I kept my ball in play and I was fortunate on quite a few
holes that I hit it close to the hole with my approach shots."

"I was hitting from inside five feet for birdie on 3, 5 and
6. That makes it easy, when you have some nice short putts to tap in for
birdie."

The young gun was excited to see his hard work over the past
few weeks paying off on his home tour; the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.

"This country style golf course reminds me of the courses I
used to play on when I was younger. Being from the South Coast, from
Wollongong, we have a lot of courses that are short and tight like this one,"
added Zunic, who has recently spent some time with his coach Warwick Dews, the
PGA Pro at Cronulla.

"The past few months I wasn’t hitting the ball very well so
I went and saw my coach. All we really did was go back to the basics."

"For me it was just a little alignment tweak. I still find
it hard to believe sometimes how one little thing can make my swing go from
feeling really bad to awesome."

Since his win at the New Zealand Open in 2015, many
opportunities have come up for the 24-year-old including playing in the WGC –
Cadillac Championship where he had a practice round with World Number 1 Jason
Day.

"I have done a lot of travel this year. I have really
enjoyed the chance to go and play in some really big tournaments on the
European Tour," added Zunic.

"I haven’t played as well as I would have liked so far but I
still have so much to look forward to for the rest of the year."

Life as an international Touring Professional has been a
steep learning curve for Zunic who is enjoying his time competing in Darwin.

"It’s been a really big learning curve on knowing myself,
what’s best for me and how to manage myself when I am travelling," continued
Zunic.

"One thing I have learned from travelling a lot is; it’s
always good to try and stay with someone. Staying on your own can get a bit
boring."

"This week I am staying with Callan O’Reilly and Dale Brandt
Richards. We have been having a good time. While we are up here we may as well
take advantage of it; we were thinking about going and seeing some crocodiles."

"It’s nice to have a good time with the guys when we aren’t
on the course, it’s been fun."

While Zunic might be relaxing this afternoon, tomorrow in
round two it will be back to business.

He currently holds a three shot lead over Tim Hart and Jake
Higginbottom with Darren Beck, Antonio Murdaca and
Michael Sim all on 3-under the card.

The afternoon field is now on course.

For all live scores from the Northern Territory PGA
Championship at Palmerston Golf Course please click here.