Out in one of the early morning groups in cool, breezy conditions at Cobram Barooga Golf Club, Tighe flirted with Tom Power Horan’s course record but left his par putt on the lip on 18 for an 8-under 63, tied with WPGA Tour rookie Kotono Fukaya who birdied her final two holes.

After turning in 3-under, Tighe peeled off five consecutive birdies from the par-5 10th, moving to 9-under on his round with birdie at the 327-metre par-4 17th.

But with the course record at his mercy, Tighe left a downhill putt for 62 agonisingly short, ending Round 1 level with Fukuya and one clear of Jake McLeod (64), Austin Bautista (64), Andrew Martin (64) and Momoka Kobori (64).

Barooga local Steffi Vogel was one of six players to end the first round at 6-under par, one of seven WPGA Tour members in the top 18 on the leaderboard.

A top-three finisher three times last season, Tighe downed tools at the completion of the ISPS HANDA Australian Open and went to work in the jewellery store that his father, Darryl, has operated in Wollongong for the past 45 years.

It was a stark reminder that playing golf for a living is not all bad.

“It’s quite humbling. You go from inside the ropes at the Australian Open to cleaning windows at your dad’s jewellery shop,” said Tighe.

Renowned as one of the longest hitters on tour, Tighe smashed his drive down the middle at the first hole on the Old Course. Despite being regarded as a tight layout, Tighe drew confidence to compile a round that was flawless until his final hole.

“It would have been good to have no blemishes because it was pretty unreal out there,” added Tighe, who asked Hendry to look at his putting stroke after Wednesday’s pro-am.

“I took advantage of the par 5s really well and just made a couple of good 12-footers.

“If I’m in position with my driver and I’m pitching it good, I normally play pretty good because I give myself a lot of opportunities.

“I did that today and it worked out.”

Queenslander Jake McLeod is in Barooga due to missing out on qualifying for the Final Stage of Asian Tour Q School.

He flew back from Thailand on Sunday, listened to rap music and the ‘Levels’ NRL podcast on the drive from Brisbane to Barooga and then rode a hot putter Thursday to be one stroke back.

After playing the back nine in 4-under, McLeod lipped out for eagle at the par-5 first and then moved to 6-under with a birdie on two.

He dropped a shot at the par-3 third but hit a superb shot into the treacherous par-3 fifth and made birdie on six to post 64.

“I birdied all the par 5s which was nice but, to be honest, all I did well today was putt well,” said McLeod.

“I putted unbelievably well, holed pretty much everything I looked at.”

One of nine Japanese players to attend WPGA Tour Qualifying School last week, Fukaya is in her first month as a professional.

The 25-year-old birdied her opening two holes in the afternoon wave before playing the back nine in 5-under 31 to join Tighe at 8-under.

Buoyed by a top-15 finish at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open and retention of her Ladies European Tour card at Qualifying School to end 2023, Kobori also finished in a flurry.

A 9-iron to eight feet set up birdie at the par-3 fifth which she followed with an eagle at the par-5 sixth. A final birdie at the par-3 ninth not only made her the leading WPGA player in the morning field but was one better than younger brother Kazuma (65).

Vogel also earned bragging rights in her household, thrilling the Barooga faithful with her best round in a professional tournament to be two off the lead.

Close to completing the PGA’s Membership Pathway Program, Vogel drew upon her best round at Cobram Barooga – an 8-under on New Year’s Day – to finish level with Jessica Boyce and the Kiwi trio of Kazuma Kobori, Michael Hendry and Kerry Mountcastle at 6-under.

The final two rounds of the Webex Players Series Murray River will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo, the third round coverage to begin at 4pm on Saturday with final round to be broadcast live from 2pm-7pm AEDT.

Photography: Candice High