A West Australian amateur and Professional lead the way following the first round of the Nexus Risk TSA Group WA Open being played at Royal Fremantle Golf Club.

Amateur Curtis Luck showed the future of Australian golf is in good hands today as he upstaged the Professionals playing in the morning field to be theoutright leader early.

Firing a 6-under 66, which included an eagle on the par-4 5^th, Luckled the PGA Tour of Australasia tournament by one shot after the morning teetimes.

Not to be outdone Professional Michael Sim, playing in the afternoon field,came home in a flurry of birdies to tie Luck for the lead heading into the second round.

Sim has been in good form lately, recording two top-10 finishes in his last four starts on Tour, but he believes today’s performance was down to some swing advice from Jason Scrivener.

This is the second week in a row that an amateur held a share of the first round lead in a Tour event after Min Woo Lee led the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship in Kalgoorlie last week.

Sitting just behind Luck and Sim are David McKenzie and Gavin Reed who recorded opening rounds of 5-under 57 on the well presented Royal Fremantle layout.

Recording rounds of 4-under 68 to be tied fifth after the first round are four players; Jason Norris, Sven Puymbroeck, Jason Scrivener and Jake McLeod.

Jason Norris comes into this week fresh from an outright 6^th in Kalgoorlie but believes he has some work to do with his putter.

For Puymbroeck, today’s 4-under 68 is his best round of the year and just his third under par which had left him reconsidering his future in the game.

Jason Scrivener came into the tournament after spending the year competing on the European Tour and as the highest ranked player in the field.

The Nexus Risk TSA Group WA Open is just McLeod’s second competing as a Professional so he is pleased to be turning in good performances early in his career.

The second round of the Nexus Risk TSA Group Open tees off tomorrow morning at6.40am with Michael Sim on course at 7.20am and Curtis Luck at 11.30am.

For all round 1 scores please visit pga.org.au.

For all round 2 tee times please visit pga.org.au.

Key Quotes:

Michael Sim, 6-under 66 T1

"I got off to a fast start, I hit a driver to about a foot on the 5^thhole and I was about 4-under after 5"

"I held it together on the back-9, the sea breeze came in a little bit which made that back-9 a little tougher."

"Actually Scriv (Jason Scrivener) helped me out yesterday on my swing a little bit. I struggled in the pro-am a little bit and I seem to play my best golf when I can hit a fade and I have been struggling to do that the last week. Ijust kind of worked on that all day today and its funny you shoot 6-under, it’s a good feeling."

Curtis Luck, 6-under 66, T1

"I had a pretty good ball striking day, holed a few putts, but definitely played really well."

"Obviously I have played a lot of junior golf around Royal Fremantle considering I live in Perth. It’s definitely a course I have played a lot; it’s different now to what it was in my junior days, because I might be hitting some shorter clubs into some of the holes. I know the greens pretty well, I have played it enough."

"I hit two really good shots into 18 and unfortunately I actually three putted for par but I’m obviously going to take away the positives. I hit a great drive and a great second in there nice and close. I also had a really great tee shot on five which positioned me in a really good spot for a tap in eagle."

David McKenzie,5-under 67, T3

"I got off to a nice start, I putted on in from just off the 10^thgreen, which as my first and then hit on the next in two. So I was 2-underafter two which makes it a lot easier to have a good round when you start off well."

"I did well, I couldn’t get anything else on the back-9 but then got on a bit of run, I birdied the 18^th and then the 2^nd so I started feeling comfortable then."

"I think the course is in great nick. It’s a good little golf course,especially for me, because you have to hit it in the right spots and straight.The greens are slope-y and fast so overall I’m not too unhappy playing it."

Jason Scrivener,4-under 68, T5

"It was a bit of an up and down day. I bogeyed the first but after that was solid for a good nine holes. I hit it nicely and made some good putts as well."

"I felt like in tricky conditions, there is a bit of wind around, to shoot4-under is a good round."

"It’s probably a new feeling for me going into a tournament one of the favourites. But I am enjoying it; it’s been a fun week. Not thinking about ittoo much just trying to enjoy it."

Jake McLeod, 4-under68, T5

"Very happy, I rolled in a lot of putts so I came out with a good score."

"I was even par through the first three then had four birdies in a row so that got me going."

"I just got the putter hot and birdied the 18^th which was my 9^th hole, 5-under on the front-9. I made a couple of mistakes on the back-9 but held it together ok."

Sven Puymbroeck,4-under 68, T5

"Today was interesting; I have been battling for the last 12 months or so. I played really well today; I hit a lot of fairways and holed some really good putts."

"It was getting to a stage where I was thinking about taking a bit of time off.Today is great so, I’ll just see what happens over the next few days and make a decision from there."

"I tried to change my approach this week. Last week I just wasn’t really into it. So I thought while I am over here I might as well try a few things because obviously I couldn’t do any worse than I have been."

Jason Norris, 4-under68, T5

"I have changed everything up this week; I putted so bad last week that I’ve gone to a Jordan Spieth style. I looked at the hole all day today, with every putt; I committed to it and putted well early. The back-9 I putted pretty ordinarily."

"When you are up there and playing well it’s always a positive but my putting was dreadful in the last couple of days."

"When my playing partner said to me yesterday in the pro-am, ‘you’re just so negative on the putting green, you have to change it,’ it was a real wake up call. I thought I had been pretty bad so hopefully that will change around when I change my attitude and that’s what I tried to do today."

For more player quotes please visit the PGA Media Centre.

For audio interviews please visit the PGA Media Centre.

For photos from the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship please visit the PGA Media Centre.