Michael Hendry is the first to admit his form this year has been a tad rough, but the Kiwi golfer was all smiles after taking the clubhouse lead on the opening day of the $2 million Perth International at Lake Karrinyup on Thursday.
Hendry shot a seven-under-par 65 to share the clubhouse honours with Spain’s Alejandro Canizares.
With about half the field still to finish, Argentine Emiliano Grillo sits one shot adrift of the leaders, while England’s Andrew Johnston is also well placed at five-under.
Defending Australian Open champion Greg Chalmers is among a group of six players at four-under, while 2011 US Masters winner Charl Schwartzel and world No.10 Jason Dufner finished at one-under.
Hendry, the world No.574, missed five straight cuts after winning the NZ PGA Pro-Am Championship earlier this year.
But after taking some time off during the winter, Hendry feels his form is slowly returning, especially after last week’s seventh-placed finish at the China Masters.
“I spent a lot of time on the Gold Coast actually doing a lot of practise over there,” Hendry said.
“My form had been a bit rough but I saw a few glimpses last week in China and it’s just nice to carry on.
“When you’re playing bad and you’re spending lots of money to get to events and not getting a lot of return on that investment, it does put a lot of pressure on you to play well.
“But you just keep working hard and hoping it turns the corner at some stage, and it has the last couple of weeks.”