Malaysian Gavin Green holds the top spot on the Fiji International leaderboard after the morning field but a talented pack of players are just behind him.
Playing in the first group off the 10th this morning, South Australian Jason Norris set the early pace finishing on 3-under the card.
Hoping for a calm morning, Norris was greeted by the strong winds synonymous with Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course.
“We got here at 5 o’clock this morning and we thought ‘you beauty we’ll have no wind’ and it was blowing about 45 km/h so it wasn’t a good thing to come to,” said Norris.
“I think it will probably stay about the same now, it feels about 30 km/h at the moment so it’s a little bit less I think.”
Staying patient, Norris was happy to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the Vijay Singh re-design.
“They’ve done a great job of it. It’s good fun playing it. A little bit easier than it was last time, the greens are a little bit flatter but it’s very enjoyable.
“It’s quite windy out there and it’s still playable, whereas the last couple of years you’ll rack up a big score in the wind like that so it’s really good.
“I drove it well and putted well today and I think that’s definitely the key. If you do those two well you won’t have a bad score. If you’re a little off with the driver you can definitely rack up a big number.”
One man who was happy with the wind was Canadian Austin Connelly who resides in Dallas, Texas.
“I love when it’s windy and would like it to be like this the next three days, it would be ideal,” said Connelly.
“I’ve grown up playing in the wind and I definitely think I have an advantage over the rest of the field in windy conditions.”
Connelly has made the trip to the Fiji International to further secure his European Tour card, enjoying the travel, next week he will tee up in Denmark.
“I’m just trying to cement my European Tour status. It was a bit of a journey to get here, I’m playing at the Made in Denmark next week but I want to basically play everywhere I can and just try to cement my European Tour status for next year,” added Connelly, who finished 14th at The Open.
“It’s been an incredible year. This will be my ninth European Tour start for the year and I’ve played reasonably well having never seen the golf courses before.”
Another Australian, Michael Sim, was also happy to have fired 3-under 69 in the opening round of the Fiji International.
“After losing the ball on 10 it could have been a disaster but I made an unbelievable par actually,” said Sim, who finished eagle, birdie.
“I managed a long iron on the green and sink the putt and then finished with three three. So if it wasn’t for the tenth hole I probably wouldn’t be standing here talking to you now.”
The afternoon is now on course and you can watch live on PGA TV.