Two Share Lead in ISPS HANDA Perth International


Denmark's Thorbjørn Olesen and Monday qualifier John Wade each fired course-record-setting 8-under 64s at Lake Karrinyup Country Club to share the opening-round lead in the ISPS HANDA Perth International. The European Tour event got underway Thursday in Australia.

Wade, a 46-year-old Aussie, posted six birdies and an eagle on the par-5 15th to match Olesen's eight-birdie outing. Wade made it into the tournament through Monday qualifying by making birdies on his final three holes.

"It feels a bit weird actually," said Wade of his position entering the second round. "I certainly haven't been top of the leaderboard for a hell of a long time. I just got a fast start. I didn't play well last week, so wasn't a lot of form going in, but once I got a fast start, I had to think 'Well, maybe I've turned it around a little bit.'

"I didn't really leave any out there. I got a couple of up-and-downs in and stuff like that, which helps your round, definitely."

The 24-year-old Olesen's only victory came in the 2012 Sicilian Open. But the Dane has shown plenty of talent, including a tie for sixth at the 2013 Masters. "I played really, really well the front nine especially," said Olesen, who's currently ranked 64th in the Race to Dubai and needs to perform well to get into the top-60 and qualify for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

"The back nine I hit a couple bad drives, but got a little bit lucky and got away with them," he added. "My short game was amazing out there. My chipping, bunker shots were really, really good, so I'm very pleased with the round. It's been a few years since I won.

"Especially the last six months I feel like I've played some good golf and just haven't been able to put the rounds together, so it's been a dry period. It would be really, really nice to get some confidence back, and to get a win would be amazing."

Two behind the co-leaders are Aussie Michael Sim, Scotland's Peter Whiteford, England's Tom Lewis and South Korea's Sihwan Kim. Seven players - Aussies Brett Rumford, Matthew Griffin and Jason Scrivener, Scotsman David Drysdale, Brit Mark Foster, France's Julien Quesne and Swede Magnus A. Carlsson - opened with 67s.

Other scores included a 68 by 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, and a 69 and 70 by Americans Peter Uihlein and Jason Dufner. Dufner is making his first start in three months after recovering from a neck injury.

Before the start of the tournament, Dufner - paired in the first two rounds with Schwartzel - said, "I haven't played competitive golf in 11 weeks. I don't have that many expectations. I feel like if I can play 18 holes without any pain, that'll be a good thing. Get rolling in the right direction again."

Defending champion Jin Jeong of South Korea opened with a 72.

For all the scores, visit http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014084/leaderboard/index.html.