round, Adam Scott hit an albatross and Tiger Woods submitted a blemish-free scorecard but little-known Jarrod Lyle trumped them all to take a one-stroke lead after an eventful opening day at the Australian Open Thursday. Twice major winner Daly blamed his abrupt departure on running out of balls after dumping six into a lake off the 11th tee but his excuse cut little ice with PGA Australia, which withdrew his invitation to the Australian PGA Championship. Championship director Trevor Herden slammed Daly as “unprofessional” and said it was unlikely the 45-year-old American, who staged a similar walkout in Austria in September, would ever be invited back. Australian Lyle, who lost his card after a disappointing season on the US PGA tour, earlier prospered in the morning rain with a seven-under-par 65 to finish a shot ahead of American world No. 5 Dustin Johnson and his compatriot Nick Watney. Watney was the only player to threaten the top of the leaderboard in difficult afternoon conditions when a changeable, gusty wind reduced players and caddies to throwing grass into the air at every tee. Fred Couples was in a group of four players sharing fourth with a 67. Woods was delighted with his four-birdie 68, which left him tied for eighth on four-under and gave him a first bogey-free round in nine months. Two share lead Italy's Edoardo Molinari and Briton James Morrison made the most of ideal scoring conditions to fire matching nine-under par 62s for a share of the lead after the opening round of the Singapore Open Thursday. The Italian's lone bogey on the ninth ended a run of four birdies over his opening eight holes but an inward six-under 29 took him a stroke clear of South Korea's Y.E. Yang, who had completed a bogey-free 63 minutes earlier. A group of four players are a stroke further back in a tie for fifth, including South Africa's Jbe Kruger.
