Playing the Legends Course in perfect scoring conditions, the early groups went on a birdie blitz with 16 players at 5-under or better but Clarke’s 63 was the pick of them, two strokes clear of Kiwi Michael Hendry, veteran Steven Jeffress and talented up-and-comers Kyle Michel and Justin Warren.

Rattling off four birdies in each of his first four holes, Clarke wasted no time in reacquainting himself with the happy Moonah Links memories having earned his tour card on the Open Course just over 12 months ago.

Although playing opportunities have been few and far between due to COVID-19, Clarke admitted that being back on the property instantly brought back the positive vibes of his conformation into the touring professional ranks.

“That was pretty big. That was what I’d been wanting to do for the last six or seven years,” Clarke said of finishing 24th to earn his card last January only six months after turning professional.

“Since I left school that’s all I’ve wanted to do and had a few tough points along the road, a few good results but that was the first part of it, that opened my eyes and made me think that maybe I can do this.

“I was pretty pumped after the last time I was here and looking forward to a busy year but that obviously hasn’t eventuated.”

Surprising himself by finishing tied for 10th at the 54-hole NT PGA Championship last October, Clarke faded on Sunday to finish tied for 48th at The Players Series last week but rediscovered his ball-striking during a nine-hole practice round on Wednesday.

“I struggled late in the week last week but something kind of clicked yesterday in the practice round and I started finding the middle of the clubface again,” said Clarke, who shot 9-under 62 in the first stage of Q School at Riverside Oaks two years ago.

“Irons were the only real issue last week and they were pretty sharp today.

“The birdie on the third was pretty good. I hit a quality 7-iron into maybe 15-16 feet and rolled a left-to-righter in that didn’t really ever look like missing.

“The other three were quite regulation and straightforward but the one at the third made me think that we could be onto something today.”

Hendry was the first of the morning players to post 7-under, his round of 65 highlighted by birdies at the two par 3s on the front nine and another at the 420-metre par-4 13th that was playing into the wind.

“It felt pretty stress free today. I hit 17 greens and the one I missed I missed by about a foot and putted it anyway,” Hendry said.

“It’s pretty easy to chip away and make a few putts and all of a sudden you’re 5 or 6-under.

“I hit a pretty reasonable drive and a 6-iron into the wind from 164 metres to 15 feet and managed to hole that putt.

“I hit a couple of good shots into a couple of the par 3s and holed a couple of reasonable putts.”

It was without the putter that Jeffress generated momentum midway through his opening round.

Swapping golf clubs for paint brushes for much of the past nine months, Jeffress admitted that he sharpened his focus after missing the cut last week and leant on his short game to sit near the top of the leaderboard.

“It was nice, considering I feel like I’ve been playing terrible. It was nice to get off to a solid start,” said the 2014 Fiji International champion.

“I won’t say I flushed it today but I managed it better.

“I hit a terrible second shot into seven and there’s a big slope at the front of the green. It rolled back down that into a divot and I didn’t get it up the hill to the green and it rolled back down again. I had about 30 metres to the front of the green and pitched it in for par with the 60-degree lob wedge.

“And then the next hole I got up and down from about the same distance off the green to save par again.

“They were a couple of nice little momentum holes. You make a couple of bogeys there and all the gas goes out of you. The pitch-in was excellent.”

Five-under through eight holes has David McKenzie as the best of the afternoon wave with 19 players at 3-under as they near the halfway mark of their opening round.

Follow live scores from the #VicPGA here.