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Former boom amateur Andrew Buckle seemed more like a player who’d shot 84 than one who led an international class field on a merry chase with an opening round 64 at the Australian PGA Championship at the Hyatt resort on Thursday.
Despite extracting 10 birdies from the 6,114 metre rain-softened layout, Buckle gave the image of a player still riddled with self doubt who was just happy to have shot a low number during his rare visit to the media room.
Rated along with another young gun yet to fire, Michael Sim, as the next big thing when he turned pro in 2002, Buckle has been battling away on the US Nationwide Tour with earnings of $94,511 this year, not nearly enough to get his PGA Tour card.
He admitted he probably got on the PGA Tour, which can crush under-prepared young players, without enough experience.
“I was quite young and maybe I wasn’t quite ready for it and it was hard to get my head around a lot of things, playing with those guys because, you know, I have never really thought I was a great player,” he said.
Asked about his lack of belief when others saw immense talent, he said: “Maybe it’s just my nature, the way I’ve been since I was a kid”.
A conscious decision to turn the clock back 10 years and play purely on instinct appeared to work wonders.
“This year more than any it’s been doing my head in,” he said.
“I’ve been standing on the range all day long, just putting too much pressure on myself really.
“Today I just tried to get back to using my instincts a little bit more which I haven’t really done since I was a kid.
“It was a lot of fun to play that way again instead of just thinking about my swing.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s a self-esteem thing or something. I worry about what people think too much and how my golf swing looks, all those things.
“But today I just turned it back and it felt really good and fun.”
So did his eight under 64 which left the likes of Geoff Ogilvy (70) and Adam Scott (73) in his wake do wonders for his confidence?
“Like I said, I really have no expectations after the way I’ve been playing.
“It would be silly for me to think I could win.”
Buckle led the tournament until late in the days when American Bob Gates (64) joined him at eight under in the lead.
A group of players, including 1983 Australian Open winner Peter Fowler, were tied two back on 66.