SA rookie Lombard leads Australian PGA

Gold Coast - South African rookie Zander Lombard held a two-shot lead over England's Mark Foster after the opening round of the European Tour co-sanctioned Australian PGA Championship on the Gold Coast on Thursday.

Lombard fired five birdies in an unblemished five-under 67 to lead Foster at the Royal Pines resort.

Only four other golfers finished their rounds in the red as players encountered buffeting winds and morning rain.

Seven-time US PGA Tour winner Brandt Snedeker crashed to a nightmare opening round of 12-over 84, which left him 17 strokes adrift of the lead and facing a huge battle to make Friday's cut.

Snedeker finished with eight bogeys, a double and a triple.

"I wish I could put a spin on it," said Snedeker, the highest-ranked player in the field.

"The conditions were tough and when you're not firing on all cylinders and the wind is blowing the way it did out here, your mistakes are going to be exacerbated - mine were."

By the time Lombard teed off, the wind had died down slightly.

The 20-year-old - who only turned pro this year - was able to hold his nerve and managed to complete his round without a bogey.

"It was definitely one of my most-professional rounds (in my career)," said Lombard, one of 24 players at the tournament from South Africa's Sunshine Tour.

Foster, whose only win on the European Tour came 13 years ago, holed seven birdies and four bogeys.

67 - Zander Lombard (RSA)

69 - Mark Foster (ENG)

70 - Dylan Frittelli (RSA), Ashley Hall

71 - Todd Sinnott, Adam Stephens

72 - Matthew Millar, Tom Lewis (ENG), Paul Dunne (IRL), Nick Cullen, Jacques Kruyswijk (RSA), Borja Virto Astudillo (ESP), Jason Scrivener, Aaron Pike

73 - Jordan Zunic, David Lingmerth (SWE), John Senden, Jack Wilson, Anthony Brown, Nicolo Ravano (ITA), Richard Green

Selected scores:

74 - Harold Varner III (USA), Bjorn Akesson (SWE), Scott Fernandez (ESP)

75 - Peter Uihlein (USA), Pablo Martin Benavides (ESP), Nino Bertasio (ITA), Oliver Bekker (RSA)

76 - Liu Yan-Wei (CHN), Gary King (ENG), Sungho Lee (KOR), JC Ritchie (RSA), Steve Surry (ENG), Andrew Curlewis (RSA), Tjaart Van Der Walt (RSA), Justin Walters (RSA), Rourke Van Der Spuy (RSA), Erik Van Rooyen (RSA), Divan Van Den Heever (RSA), Li Xin-yang (CHN)

77 - Pelle Edberg (SWE), Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Lasse Jensen (DEN), Stuart Manley (WAL), David Klein (GER), Rhys Enoch (WAL), Jens Fahrbring (SWE)

78 - Charlie Ford (ENG), Colin Nel (RSA), Ryan Cairns (ZIM), Darryn Lloyd (RSA), Kevin Phelan (IRL)

79 - Scott Jamieson (SCO), Laurie Canter (ENG), Jacques Blaauw (RSA), Matthew Baldwin (ENG), Tyrone Mordt (RSA)

80 - Titch Moore (RSA), Chris Hanson (ENG), Hyowon Park (KOR), Ryan Carter (USA)

81 - Filippo Bergamaschi (ITA), Lukas Nemecz (AUT)

82 - Jin Zhang (CHN), Jinho Choi (KOR), Paul Shields (SCO), Sengyong Kim (KOR), Stephen Ferreira (POR)

83 - Arthur Horne (SUI)

84 - Brandt Snedeker (USA), Mohammad Rauf Mandhu (ZIM), Joakim Lagergren (SWE)

88 - Lean Boezaart (RSA)

89 - Alex Gaugert (USA)