Sometimes, you really can blame the tools. John Senden found himself in the middle of a bizarre incident on day one of the Australian PGA Championship when his driver snapped at the top of his backswing.
The Queenslander was two-under through eight holes at Royal Pines when the shaft of his driver gave way just as he was in the midst of trying to spear one down the ninth fairway.
Bad for openers: John Senden has a disastrous start to the Australian PGA Championship on the Gold Coast.Credit:AAP
Momentum carried him through a messy shot, which missed the ball entirely, and he was left clutching the mangled club. It also managed to give him a nasty pinch and counted as a stroke, much to the chagrin of playing partner Geoff Ogilvy.
Senden recorded a bogey and went on to card an even par round, leaving him with a share of 64th, six shots adrift of round one leader Jake McLeod. Marc Leishman was poised at four-under while defending champion Cameron Smith finished two-under.
A philosophical Senden said he accepted the ruling but the strange circumstance went on to 'spook' him for the remainder of his round.
"The actual club broke in the handle coming down into the impact area. I had no chance of actually stopping the shot, so unfortunately that counts as actually one stroke. I was playing two shots off the tee. So, you know, it just happens," Senden said.
"I've seen it happen before to other players but first time it's happened to me in a tournament.
It was just the force of it coming down and then snapped right in front of my forefinger on the right hand. I had no chance of stopping the shot. It actually spooked me a bit.
‘‘I jammed my finger … pinched it a bit and I was feeling quite the discomfort and had to learn how to go with the three wood from there.’’
Senden usually remains unflappable on the course, so it was left to his club to do the melting down. That wasn't the case for Englishman Andrew 'Beef' Johnston, who almost packed it in after three nasty holes to start his round in the early morning groups.
McLeod, meanwhile, continued a superb month, with the 24-year-old leading the Order of Merit after winning the NSW Open and backing it up with third in the Australian Open.
He said time with a new psychologist had contributed to his run of form and helped him deal with the mental stress that comes with high-pressure golf.
"I'm always very nervous on the first tee no matter what it is," he said. "So just accepting how I'm going to feel … I can't change my thoughts and stay focused on the shot and have a laugh out there and just get on with it."
with AAP
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