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Barnes leads Australian Open by 2 strokes
Kurt Barnes held a two-stroke lead Thursday after shooting a 6-under-par 65 in the first round of the Australian Open, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Fellow Australians Greg Chalmers, Richard Green and Rod Pampling opened with 67s at The Australian Golf Club, the site of the inaugural tournament in 1904.
Barnes, the 23-year-old son of a coal miner, had nine birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey on the par-4 third.
"You can't treat this game too serious, otherwise you go insane," Barnes said
Two-time champion Aaron Baddeley was three strokes back along with fellow Aussies Stuart Appleby, Anthony Gilligan and Colombia's Camilo Villegas. Baddeley, who made a 25-foot eagle putt on the par-5 fifth, won as an amateur in 1999 at Royal Sydney and defended the title as a pro in 2000 at Kingston Heath.
Corey Pavin, the 1995 U.S. Open champion, shot a 73. Fellow Americans Bob Estes and John Morse also had 73s, and former U.S. Amateur champion Ricky Barnes shot a 77.
Villegas, a former University of Florida player who made his professional debut this year in the U.S. Open, also eagled the fifth hole.
Chalmers, the 1998 Australian Open winner, lost his U.S. PGA Tour card this season and then failed to advance to the final stage of qualifying school.
"It's hard to find that balance between family and golf and I've struggled with it," Chalmers said. "It's a battle between making a living and being at home for your family. The desire to be with my family meant I did a little less work than I used to."
Senior star Bruce Devlin, the tournament winner as an amateur in 1960, shot an 80. Devlin, one of 13 former Australian champions in the field, has said this will be his final competitive tournament.
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