Madsen leads at Alfred Dunhill

MALELANE, South Africa -- Morten Orum Madsen leads the Alfred Dunhill Championship after shooting a 7-under 65 in the opening round at Leopard Creek.

The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africa's Allan Versfeld and Portugal's Ricardo Santos.

Defending champion Charl Schwartzel was in a four-way tie for fourth after a 68, while American John Daly shot a 72 for a tie for 48th in his second tournament back from right elbow surgery in July.

Madsen came from behind to win the South African Open last weekend but was out in front early at the second event on the 2014 Race to Dubai. A bogey at the par-3 seventh was his only blemish.

''I have a lot of confidence right now,'' he said. ''I really believe I am going to hit good shots on pretty much every shot.''

Versfeld carded an eagle and four birdies in a bogey-free round, while Santos finished with an eagle to add to four birdies.

Schwartzel had seven birdies, including five on his first six holes, but the 2011 Masters champion failed to fully capitalize on the fast start by making a bogey and a double-bogey around the turn. Starting at No. 10, he dropped his first shot on No. 17 and then double-bogeyed the par-4 first.

Schwartzel won here by 12 shots a year ago and has also finished second four times at the Leopard Creek course in northern South Africa.

Daly made his return to golf at the BMW Masters in China last month after surgery to repair a damaged tendon in his elbow. He struggled for consistency Thursday with two bogeys and a birdie going out and two birdies and a bogey coming home.

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Scott hot at Australian Open with 1st-round 62

SYDNEY -- Adam Scott birdied his first six holes en route to a course-record 10-under 62 at Royal Sydney on Thursday to take a three-stroke lead after the first round of the Australian Open.

Scott broke the previous Royal Sydney mark of 65 set by five players at the 2008 Australian Open. After Scott's opening birdie run, he made par on the next eight holes before birdieing his final four.Scott is attempting to join Robert Allenby as the only golfers to win all three Australian majors in the same year. Allenby won the Australian PGA, Australian Masters and Australian Open in 2005.

''The longest putt I had on those opening birdies was about 5 feet,'' Scott said. ''I hit a lot of quality shots right out of the blocks this morning.''

Canadian Ryan Yip and American John Young Kim each shot 65s and were tied for second. David McKenzie had a 66 while two-time champion Aaron Baddeley was in a group with 67s.

''I like to see the ball running and that's what this course offers me,'' said Yip, a regular on the Canadian Tour.

Adam Scott of Australia loses his grip as he tees off on the second hole during the Australian Open …

Rory McIlroy opened with a 69 in his bid for his first win of the year. He made the turn at 2-under, bogeyed 11 and 12, but had three birdies in his final seven holes, including on No. 18.

American Kevin Streelman, who played with Matt Kuchar on the runner-up American team in last week's World Cup at Royal Melbourne, shot 70 playing in the same group as Scott and Jason Day.

Day, who won the individual stroke play at the World Cup, also shot 70.

Scott could not recall starting any round with six birdies, thinking that he once had five in a row to start a round in Qatar. He finished his round Thursday with an approach to nearly tap-in range on the ninth.

''I'm off to a good start, but a lot of work to do yet,'' Scott said. ''It's been a long time since I shot a low round like this. It's a tough setup, but it was a perfect morning for it.''

Most of the best scores Thursday came in the morning groups as the wind picked up in the afternoon. Similar weather conditions are forecast for Friday when Scott will play in the afternoon.

Scott won the Australian PGA and Australian Masters before sharing the World Cup team trophy with Day last week at Royal Melbourne.

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Scott looks to complete Australian Triple Crown

SYDNEY -- Adam Scott has lifted three trophies in three weeks - two from his Australian PGA and Australian Masters wins - and one he shared with Australian teammate Jason Day at last week's World Cup at Royal Melbourne.

Scott begins his attempt to complete the Triple Crown of Australian majors on Thursday at the Australian Open at Royal Sydney, which is hosting the country's national championship for the 14th time.

He'll play in the same threesome during the first two rounds with Day, who also won the individual stroke-play event at the World Cup, and American Kevin Streelman.

''I'm excited about this week, with the chance to win the Triple Crown,'' he said after Wednesday's pro-am. ''I did roll a few in on the back nine. To see a few going in in the pro-am is always good ... you set the tone for the week.''

It's Scott's first trip Down Under - four tournaments in four weeks - since he became the first Australian to win the Masters at Augusta in April.

Robert Allenby in 2005 is the only player to have won the Australian Masters, Australian PGA and Australian Open in the same season.

Former Australian Open champion Craig Parry is among a group of players including Greg Norman, Peter Lonard and defending champion Peter Senior to have won all three Australian majors, but Parry did it over 15 years.

''It's hard enough to win once, let alone the next week and now he's trying to win the Australian Open - and that's the big one,'' Parry said Wednesday. ''Just the history of it, the great names that have won it, the mystique.''

Gary Player won the Australian Open seven times, Jack Nicklaus six and Norman five times.

''Scotty's playing fantastic and the fact that he's had all the pressure on him coming back home to Australia and then delivered ... it's one thing to expect and another to do it,'' Parry added.

Scott's other major threat to what Australian media are calling the ''Scotty Slam'' is Rory McIlroy, who admitted Wednesday that ''it's been a long year, mentally more than physically.''

McIlroy, who has eight top-10 finishes in 2013 but hasn't won a tournament this year, has been embroiled in court cases over his management company and a major sponsor.

But McIlory says he arrived in Australia feeling refreshed from a monthlong tournament break.

''I took four weeks off and did some great work with my coach,'' McIlroy said Wednesday. ''Once you start to see results your confidence comes back.''

The Australian Open also begins qualifying for next year's British Open at Royal Liverpool at Hoylake.

In the first event in the new Open Qualifying Series for next July, the three players who finish in the top 10 and ties, who have not already qualified, will get a spot at Royal Liverpool.

Only four players in the 156-man field at Royal Sydney have qualified for The Open - McIlroy, Scott, Day and Streelman.

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Scott fires course record in 'rollercoaster' round

SYDNEY - Adam Scott shot a course record 10-under-par 62 in the first round of the Australian Open at Royal Sydney on Thursday but the world number two was left ruing a mid-round dip that prevented him from posting an even lower score.

Scott has been on fire on a valedictory tour of his homeland over the last few weeks, winning both the Australian PGA and Masters, and helping his country to hoist the World Cup of Golf in Melbourne last weekend.

The 33-year-old showed no sign of slowing down as he started his fourth event at the Royal Sydney Golf Course on Thursday, grabbing birdies on his first six holes, parring the middle eight and then picking up four shots on his final four holes.

The first streak of birdies had the U.S. Masters champion contemplating the possibility that he might be about to join an even more select group of golfers, those who have shot rounds of 59 in professional tournaments.

"I wasn't thinking about it hard but I knew it was a possibility. Having birdied the six holes I birdied, I felt like all the opportunities were still to come," he said.

"So if I kept it going, and I had a good run around the turn, I felt it was on for sure."

It was not to be, though, and from his seventh hole - the 16th - Scott felt his swing desert him and was soon battling his frustration at being unable to continue his charge.

"It was a beautiful day for golf, I came out hitting great shots and didn't have much work to do to clean them up in the first five holes and had a nice putt on my sixth hole and I was really rolling at that stage," he said.

MOOD SWINGS

"But I think I've gone through a rollercoaster of emotion out there today from cruising after six holes to having to work pretty hard.

"Nothing much was going my way, I missed a green, felt like my swing was leaving me again, it's just amazing how in 18 holes you can do a 360 degrees of emotion and mood swings and everything."

Despite his success of the last few weeks, perfectionist Scott said he felt his swing had not been quite "in the slot" and revealed he had discussed his "sloppy" posture on the phone with his coach Brad Malone.

"It's a bit hard work for me at the moment," he said. "I still hit some great shots but a few average ones as well. But I got away with the bad ones today with some good saves."

It was all relative of course, and he continued to nail the four to five foot putts that punctuated his round before catching fire again at the sixth hole, his 15th.

Scott said the strong finish was essential to avoid wasting the opportunity his brilliant start had opened up, but part of him was still left contemplating how low he might have gone.

"I'm thinking about what today could have been, if I was really striking it and lost opportunities," he said.

Scott nevertheless said it had been one of the "best rounds" of his career, along with the round of 61 he hit to win the Qatar Masters in 2008 and a 62 he shot at the Memorial at Muirfield Village in 2007.

Thursday's round not only gave him a healthy early lead but also beat the course record of 65 held since the 2008 Australian Open by Stephen Dartnall, Matt Goggins, Ewan Porter, Chris Gaunt and Jason Norris.

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Golf-European Tour Dunhill Championship scores

Scores from the European Tour Dunhill Championship at the par-72 course on Thursday in Malelane

65	Morten Madsen (Denmark)	65
66	Allan Versfeld (South Africa)	66
	Ricardo Santos (Portugal)	66
68	Charl Schwartzel (South Africa)	68
	Victor Riu (France)	68
	Richard Finch (Britain)	68
	David Drysdale (Britain)	68
69	James Kingston (South Africa)	69
	Danny Willett (Britain)	69
	Gareth Maybin (Britain)	69
	Chris Doak (Britain)	69
	Michael Hollick (South Africa)	69
	Hennie Otto (South Africa)	69
	Ruan De Smidt (South Africa)	69
70	Pablo Martin (Spain)	70
	Andrew Curlewis (South Africa)	70
	Jaco Van Zyl (South Africa)	70
	Charl Coetzee (South Africa)	70
	Kevin Phelan (Ireland)	70
	Daniel Brooks (Britain)	70
	John Parry (Britain)	70
	Tjaart Van der Walt (South Africa)	70
	JG Claassen (South Africa)	70
	Jorge Campillo (Spain)	70
	Christiaan Basson (South Africa)	70
	Tyrone Van Aswegen (South Africa)	70
	Ryan Cairns (Zimbabwe)	70
	Magnus Carlsson (Sweden)	70
	Romain Wattel (France)	70
	Jens Dantorp (Sweden)	70
	Ockie Strydom (South Africa)	70
	Kim Si-Hwan (South Korea)	70
71	Jamie McLeary (Britain)	71
	Thomas Aiken (South Africa)	71
	Darren Fichardt (South Africa)	71
	Dean Burmester (South Africa)	71
	Andy Sullivan (Britain)	71
	Dion Fourie (South Africa)	71
	Jaco Ahlers (South Africa)	71
	Garrick Porteous (Britain)	71
	Oliver Fisher (Britain)	71
	Steve Webster (Britain)	71
	Bryce Easton (South Africa)	71
	Ignacio Garrido (Spain)	71
	Titch Moore (South Africa)	71
	Kristoffer Broberg (Sweden)	71
	Alex Haindl (South Africa)	71
72	Hendrik Buhrmann (South Africa)	72
	Niclas Fasth (Sweden)	72
	Damien McGrane (Ireland)	72
	Marco Crespi (Italy)	72
	George Coetzee (South Africa)	72
	John Daly (U.S.)	72
	Peter Lawrie (Ireland)	72
	Doug McGuigan (South Africa)	72
	Heinrich Bruiners (South Africa)	72
	Soren Hansen (Denmark)	72
	Oliver Bekker (South Africa)	72
	Simon Dyson (Britain)	72
	Grant Muller (South Africa)	72
	Prinavin Nelson (South Africa)	72
	Haydn Porteous (South Africa)	72
	JJ Senekal (South Africa)	72
	Tyrrell Hatton (Britain)	72
	Brandon Pieters (South Africa)	72
	Adrien Saddier (France)	72
	Lucas Bjerregaard (Denmark)	72
	Tyrone Ferreira (South Africa)	72
	Matthew Nixon (Britain)	72
	Andrea Pavan (Italy)	72
	Craig Lee (Britain)	72
	Ross Fisher (Britain)	72
	Graeme Storm (Britain)	72
	Matthew Baldwin (Britain)	72
	Omar Sandys (South Africa)	72
	PH McIntyre (South Africa)	72
73	Matthew Carvell (South Africa)	73
	Seve Benson (Britain)	73
	Carlos Del Moral (Spain)	73
	Edoardo Molinari (Italy)	73
	Johan Carlsson (Sweden)	73
	Lee Slattery (Britain)	73
	Keith Horne (South Africa)	73
	Adrian Otaegui (Spain)	73
	Shaun Norris (South Africa)	73
	James Heath (Britain)	73
	Warren Abery (South Africa)	73
	Theunis Spangenberg (South Africa)	73
	Alexander Levy (France)	73
	Brendon De Jonge (Zimbabwe)	73
	Trevor Fisher (South Africa)	73
	Brinson Paolini (U.S.)	73
	Yubin Jung (South Africa)	73
	Juan Langeveld (South Africa)	73
74	Riekus Nortje (South Africa)	74
	Alejandro Canizares (Spain)	74
	Eddie Pepperell (Britain)	74
	Merrick Bremner (South Africa)	74
	Neil Schietekat (South Africa)	74
	Simon Wakefield (Britain)	74
	Vaughn Groenewald (South Africa)	74
	Stuart Manley (Britain)	74
	Dawie Van der Walt (South Africa)	74
	Ulrich Van den Berg (South Africa)	74
	Mikael Lundberg (Sweden)	74
	Jbe Kruger (South Africa)	74
	Tom Lewis (Britain)	74
	Francois Calmels (France)	74
75	Andreas Harto (Denmark)	75
	JP Van der Walt (South Africa)	75
	Gregory Havret (France)	75
	Jose-Filipe Lima (Portugal)	75
	Justin Harding (South Africa)	75
	Robert Rock (Britain)	75
	Ignacio Elvira (Spain)	75
	Teboho Sefatsa (South Africa)	75
	Andrew Georgiou (South Africa)	75
	Jean Hugo (South Africa)	75
	James Kamte (South Africa)	75
	Emiliano Grillo (Argentina)	75
	Daan Huizing (Netherlands)	75
76	Colin Nel (South Africa)	76
	Jacques Blaauw (South Africa)	76
	Justin Walters (South Africa)	76
	Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay)	76
	Jake Roos (South Africa)	76
	Mark Williams (South Africa)	76
	Francois Coetzee (South Africa)	76
	Wade Ormsby (Australia)	76
	Michael Hoey (Britain)	76
	Garth Mulroy (South Africa)	76
	Gary Stal (France)	76
	MJ Daffue (South Africa)	76
	Thomas Pieters (Belgium)	76
	Desne Van den Bergh (South Africa)	76
77	Peter Whiteford (Britain)	77
	Thabang Simon (South Africa)	77
	Lyle Rowe (South Africa)	77
	Maximilian Kieffer (Germany)	77
	Scott Jamieson (Britain)	77
78	James Morrison (Britain)	78
	Peter Karmis (South Africa)	78
	Francesco Laporta (Italy)	78
	79 Joachim Hansen (Denmark)	79
	Louis De Jager (South Africa)	79
	Simon Thornton (Ireland)	79
	Louis Calitz (South Africa)	79
	Mark Murless (South Africa)	79
80	Richard Sterne (South Africa)	80
81	Musiwalo Nethunzwi (South Africa)	81
82	Jared Harvey (South Africa)	82
83	Danie Van Tonder (South Africa)	83
	Chris Swanepoel (South Africa)	83

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