Three players hold a two-shot lead at the end of an eventful opening day at Royal Sydney after carding course-record equalling seven-under 65s in benign conditions.
Mathew Goggin, Stephen Dartnall and Ewan Porter set the pace on day one of the 2008 Australian Open by equalling John Senden's previous best round set in 2006.
Fresh from his runner-up finish at last week's Australian PGA Championship, Goggin hit the ground running with six birdies on the front nine to set up his round, while Dartnall - who fired a 62 in Monday's qualifying to earn his start - managed six birdies and an eagle.
Porter birdied his final two holes to be the last man in at minus seven on a low scoring day.
New Zealand duo Mark Brown and David Smail, who led for much of the day after firing early five-under 67s, are joined by Australian Masters winner Rod Pampling two shots off the pace.
Queensland's Troy Kennedy sits at minus four after signing for a 68 alongside Kiwi amateur Danny Lee.
Senden, who scored a hole in one on the par-three 13th to storm into the lead after teeing off at the 10th in just the second group of the day, is one of six players at minus three.
Pre-tournament favourite Geoff Ogilvy rescued his day with four late birdies on the way to an even-par start, while Northern Irishman Darren Clarke also showed tremendous powers of recovery on his way to an opening 72 after racking up a disastrous triple bogey on his second hole of the day - the par-four 11th.
Defending champion Craig Parry struggled to a one-over 73 to sit in a share of 70th with Stuart Appleby, Marcus Fraser and Peter O'Malley - just to name a few.
John Daly's roller-coaster ride in Australia continued with a disappointing six-over 78 that included three double bogeys, three bogeys and three birdies.
The two-time major winner was also involved in an incident with an over zealous fan, smashing his camera against a tree in a fit of rage. Golf Australia later announced no action would be taken against the American.
Collated first round scores in the Australian PGA Tour Australian Open 2008, Royal Sydney Golf Club, Sydney, Australia
(Aus unless stated, par 72):
65 Mathew Goggin, Ewan Porter, Stephen Dartnell
67 Rodney Pampling, David Smail (Nzl), Mark Brown (USA)
68 Danny Lee (Nzl), Troy Kennedy
69 Craig Scott, Andrew Bonhomme, John Senden, Andre Stolz, Anthony Summers, Heath Reed, Peter Lonard
70 Chris Gaunt, Tim Wood, Brent McCullough, Brendan Jones, Wayne Perske, Terry Pilkadaris, Kane Webber (USA), Stuart Bouvier, Rohan Blizard, Gareth Paddison (Nzl), Rick Kulacz, Anthony Brown, Steven Conran, Peter Fowler, Tim Clark (Rsa)
71 Rudi Bezuidenhout, Scott Strange, Marcus Cain, Simon Griffiths (Eng), Adam Crawford, Matthew Jones, Jarrod Moseley, Adam Bland, Scott Hend, Paul Goydos (USA), Robert Allenby, Richard Green, Jens Nilsson (Swe), Kurt Barnes, David Bransdon
72 Leigh McKechnie, James H McLean (USA), Chris Downes, Ben Burge, Geoff Ogilvy, Steve Jones (USA), Steven Bowditch, Stephen Allan, Brad Lamb, Michael Long (Nzl), Craig Spence, Bradley Hughes, Wade Ormsby, Ashley Hall, Jamie Arnold, Michael Sim, Greg Chalmers, Ryan Haller, Cameron Percy, Darren Clarke (NIrl), Peter Senior, Jason Norris, Tony Carolan, Alistair Presnell
73 Mahal Pearce (Nzl), Darren Beck, Jared Consoli, Darron Stiles (USA), Andrew McKenzie (Eng), Josh Geary (Nzl), Nathan Green, Daniel Nisbet, Marc Leishman, Craig Parry, Brad Kennedy, Marcus Fraser, Peter O'Malley, Adam Blyth, Stuart Appleby
74 Aron Price, Matthew Millar, Andrew Martin, James Nitties, Eddie Barr, Won Joon Lee, Tristan Lambert, Tom Prowse, Daniel Hyndman, Scott Draper (Rsa), Tim Stewart, Michael Foster, Richard Lee (Nzl), Scott Laycock, Aaron Townsend, Mitchell Brown, Kieran Pratt, Scott Arnold (Hkg), Michael McGrath, Matt Jager, David McKenzie, Jarrod Lyle, Clint Rice, Matthew Ecob
75 Chris Campbell, Ki joon Song, Steve Alker (Nzl), Phil Tataurangi (Nzl), Alex Simpson, Michael Brennan, Andrew Dodt, Anders Kristiansen (Nor), Daniel Beckmann, Nick Flanagan, Brett Rumford, Ben Wharton, Dae-hyun Kim (Kor), Ryan Hammond, Paul Sheehan
76 David Lutterus (Rsa), Andrew Tampion, Paul Gow, Richie Gallichan, John Onions, Jason Perry, Julian Reynolds, Andrew Tschudin, Stephen Leaney, Brett Rankin, Matthew Griffen, Leigh Deagan
77 Manny Villegas (Col), Bret Guetz (USA), Maxwell Mccardle (Rsa), Grant Scott, Bradley Lles (Nzl), Grant Moorhead (Nzl), Shaun Harmer, Michael Curtain, Bronson LaCassie, Terry Price
78 Ashley Umbers, John Daly (USA), Dale Marmion (Eng), Steven Hassett, Simon Nash, Kim Felton, David Diaz
79 Raffael Toperoso, Scott Barr, Steven Jeffress
80 Michael Wright
Jets LB Pace questionable, but expects to play
Rams OT Pace, CB Bartell, OG Incognito injured
DUO TOP LEADERBOARD
STENSON SETS THE PACE
