Local favorite Lutterus takes first-round lead in Australia  PGA TOUR Staff ADELAIDE, SA -- Sometimes the home-field advantage actually favors the home team.  (Grayson/WireImage)
Thursday's initial round of the $600,000 Jacob's Creek Open Championship, the second stop on the 2007 Nationwide Tour schedule, proved just the ticket for 21-year old Adelaide resident David Lutterus, who eagled the final hole for a late-afternoon, 8-under-par 64 and sole possession of the first-round lead. Lutterus, who has been a member at this week's tournament course at Kooyonga Golf Club since he was 14, was flawless in his trip around the par-72 layout while taking a two-stroke lead on Americans Brad Ott and Chris Nallen as well as fellow Aussie Brett Rumford. "I play out here all the time and I know all the breaks and all the undulations," said Lutterus, who spent time last year playing on the mini-tours in the United States. "I don't have many excuses not to play well this week. I know the course by heart." Lutterus overpowered the 6,794-yard course, two-putting for birdie twice on par-5s before a driver, 9-iron combination on the 511-yard 9th hole left him 10 feet for eagle and alone in first place. "I always dream big, personally," he said. "I just want to play well and give myself a chance on Sunday. I just want to work my way up the ladder." Lutterus gave himself chance after chance in the opening round and was never in any real danger of making bogey during his round in front of family, friends and club members. "In some ways it's easier to play at home because you know every shot and every green," said the 6-foot, 4-inch second-year pro. "At the same time, you're on the first tee and because it's your home and you have family out there you don't want to muff up in front of them. You just have to relax and play golf." Lutterus led a huge contingent of sub-par scores on Thursday as temperatures in the mid 90s and relatively calm winds made the opening round scoring average of 71.774 the lowest single-round average in the six-year history of the event co-sanctioned with the Australasian Tour. Bermudian Michael Sims and Americans Mike Capone and Joe Daley carded 67s to share fifth place with Australians Peter Wilson, Greg Chalmers, Anthony Brown, Ben Bunny, Steven Jeffress, Andrew Pitt and Anthony Painter. Five others are tied at 68, including Nationwide Tour members Scott Dunlap, Scott Gardiner and Justin Bolli. "I hit the ball as well as I have in a couple of years," said Ott, who spent the off-season making changes to his swing. "It was out of total desperation that I changed. I was getting shorter, less accurate and less solid. Every year I was just getting worse and worse." Ott, winner of the 2004 Price Cutter Charity Championship, sat out much of the 2005 season due to shoulder surgery and then struggled last year, making only nine cuts in 29 starts and wound up No. 109 on the money list. "Last year my game just didn't come back," he said after rolling in seven birdies. "I just didn't want to play that way anymore. I thought I would just as soon get a job than play golf that way." |
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