Fiji, August 2: Australia’s Andrew Dodt, who is seeking his first Asian Tour win since 2015, got off to a flier by posting a five-under-par 67 to grab a share of the first round lead with compatriots Ben Campbell, Jarryd Felton and Nicholas Cullen on a wind-swept day at the Fiji International presented by Fiji Airways on Thursday.

Playing under blustery conditions at the Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course, the 32-year-old Australian enjoyed a bogey-free round where he marked his card with three birdies and an eagle before setting the opening pace with Felton and Cullen in the morning.

Campbell, who teed off in the back-nine 10, seemed poised to take the outright lead after firing birdies on six and seven but could not break away from the clubhouse leaders after closing with two straight pars.

India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar stayed close to the Australians leaders by returning with a 70 to ensure he remains in the mix as he chases his ninth Asian Tour title at the Fiji International presented by Fiji Airways, which being tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour European Tour and ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia again.

The Indian is bunched in equal eighth place together with China’s Wu Ashun, South Africa’s Justin Walters, Fiji’s Sam Lee and Australians Terry Pilkadaris and Lucas Herbert.

Major winner Ernie Els of South Africa and Malaysia’s Gavin Green both signed for a 72 to trail the leaders by five shots with both believing the contest is far from over as they look to renew their title charge on Friday.

Did you know?

• Andrew Dodt’s last win on the Asian Tour came at True Thailand Classic in Hua Hin, Thailand in 2015.
• The Australian made his breakthrough on the Asian Tour in 2010 when he won the inaugural Avantha Masters, co-sanctioned with the European Tour, in India.
• Dodt has a solid record as an amateur that includes wins in Australia, Chinese Taipei (Nomura Cup) and Malaysia
• He also finished runner-up at the New Zealand Amateur Open in 2006.
• Gaganjeet Bhullar is an eight-time winner on the Asian Tour. He claimed his eighth victory at the Macao Open last year and became the youngest player to win eight titles on the region’s premier Tour.
• Bhullar endured another missed opportunity for his ninth Asian Tour win at the Queen’s Cup last month. He also came close at the Maekyung Open in Korea in May but settled for a share of second place after he was defeated in the play-off.

Players Quotes

Andrew Dodt (Aus) First round 67 (-5)

It was very tough, very windy and I had to control my ball. So my course management was a big factor.  It was a really, really solid round. The last six months haven’t been that great, so it’s been nice to be in this position.  I haven’t been able to put four rounds together.  I’ve put rounds together here and there, so today was a step in the right direction.  That’s one with three to go. I feel like the tee shots and second shots are most of the shots I’ve got a good eye for, and the greens roll lovely.  So all in all, what a great background, great setting, so it’s hard not to like Fiji. It’s certainly a solid round to start with, so I’ve just got to keep doing what I did today and keep building on that. I imagine it will be as windy again, so as I said yesterday, you’ve got to control your ball around here, so that will be the goal again. It’s easy to drop shots, so bogey free was a bonus.

Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) First round 70 (-2)

It was a good round of golf.  I think I gave myself a lot of opportunities.  It was quite windy in the morning but I managed to keep my ball in play. I hit about 13 greens in regulation today. So it was a good, solid round of golf. I don’t think anything’s missing in my game. I just need to have more patience and some more maturity towards my weekend rounds.  Apart from that, it has been a solid season so far. I think the key would be that I’m keeping the ball in play, like I remember even last week and in Malaysia, I only missed probably about six or seven fairways in two tournaments.  So as long as the ball is in play, you’re giving yourself birdie opportunities. I just to keep on doing what I’ve been doing and everything will click, it’s just a matter of time. I need to be more aggressive.  So that’s what I’ve been struggling with lately.  I think that experience will help me to get back to my winning situation next time.  So point is, as I said, the goal is just to try and do what I’ve been doing the last few tournaments.

Ernie Els (Rsa) First round 72 (Even)

It was pretty tough this morning. I was hoping for good weather as I feel a little uncomfortable when the wind’s blowing.  I missed probably three short putts, but other than that, it’s a pretty good day. I was thinking of shooting anything around par this morning, the way it was blowing, it was going to be okay.  There are holes where you can score, and as I said, I missed the short little putts which probably blemished my card a little bit.  I’m not out of it, but I’ve got to start stepping on it a bit going forward.

Gavin Green (Mas) First round 72 (Even)

It was a bit of a grind as the wind was up early and it kind of stayed there the whole time. It was tough as we didn’t expect it to be up so early. I had some looks for birdie but couldn’t really capitalize on them. But I still managed to hit it okay and there were a couple of miss shots which led to bogeys. I’m okay with playing in the wind but I just hit a couple of bad shots which I hope to correct tomorrow.

Leading scores after round 1 of the Fiji International being played at the par 72, 6575 Metres Natadola Bay CGC course (am – denotes amateur):

67 – Nicholas Cullen (AUS), Jarryd Felton (AUS), Andrew Dodt (AUS), Ben Campbell (NZL).

69 – Matthew Griffin (AUS), Maverick Antcliff (AUS), Stephen Leaney (AUS).

70 – Terry Pilkadaris (AUS), Sam Lee (FIJ), Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND), Lucas Herbert (AUS), Justin Walters (RSA), Ashun Wu (CHN), Harry Bateman (NZL).

71 – Travis Smyth (AUS), Darren Beck (AUS), Matthew Millar (AUS), Nick Voke (NZL).

72 – Daniel Nisbet (AUS), James Marchesani (AUS), Gavin Green (MAS), Dale Brandt-Richards (AUS), Ernie Els (RSA), Jake McLeod (AUS), Yikeun Chang (KOR), Andrew Martin (AUS), Jason Norris (AUS), Pavit Tangkamolprasert (THA), Matt Stieger (AUS), Kieran Muir (NZL), Johannes Veerman (USA), Hung Chien-yao (TPE).

73 – Max McCardle (AUS), Cory Crawford (AUS), Rhein Gibson (AUS), Deyen Lawson (AUS), Josh Younger (AUS), Steven Jeffress (AUS), Cameron John (AUS), Brad Moules (AUS), Michael Wright (AUS), Alejandro Canizares (ESP), Michael Hendry (NZL), Marcus Fraser (AUS), Ajeetesh Sandhu (IND), Poom Saksansin (THA), Matthew Perry (NZL), Aaron Pike (AUS).

74 – Scott Strange (AUS), Adam Blyth (AUS), Jake Higginbottom (AUS), Callan O’Reilly (AUS), Nick Flanagan (AUS), Matt Jager (AUS), James Nitties (AUS), Ben Eccles (AUS), Dinesh Chand (FIJ), Bowen Xiao (CHN), Ryan Chisnall (NZL), Justin Harding (RSA), Lu Wei-chih (TPE), Yanwei Liu (CHN).

Ends.