On his fourth visit to Lae Golf Club, Smedley posted a 5-under-par 66 to head fellow Victorian Terry Pilkadaris by two shots with only other three players under par after day one.

Another 36 holes are to come over the weekend and Smedley is in a great mood as he tries to capture his biggest title on the PGA Legends Tour.

Turning point

After a steady even-par first nine, which included two birdies and two bogeys, Smedley caught fire on the back nine.

He birdied the 10th, 12th, 13th, 15th and 16th holes – part of a run of six consecutive threes – on the way to back nine of 30.

Quick quotes

Smedley said: “The greens are a little slower than what I’m used to. I just told myself to hit it hard. I hit a lot of shots close and had some short birdie putts where I didn’t have to smack them so it was pretty good.

“You know when they talk about being in the zone, I was in the zone. It was just like perfect golf for me and I haven’t played like that for quite some time.”

Leading scores

1 Carl Smedley 66

2 Terry Pilkadaris 68

T3 John Green 70

T3 Mark Boulton 70

T3 Lucien Tinkler 70

T6 Jason Norris 71

T6 Nigel Lane 71

NEXT UP

Round two of the PNG Senior Open will get underway at 8am on Saturday.

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