MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Adam Scott carded a 67 in the first round of his Australian Masters title defense on Thursday and was tied for second spot, two shots behind fellow Australian Nick Cullen.
No. 2-ranked Scott made a bogey on the par-4 eighth his 17th hole of the day at Royal Melbourne to drop to 4 under and a share of second place with Germany's Max Kieffer.
Scott won the Australian PGA last weekend at Royal Pines in his first home event since winning the U.S. Masters. He will team with Jason Day for Australia next week in the World Cup, also at Royal Melbourne, then play the Australian Open the following week at Royal Sydney.
"A 67 around here is a good score," Scott said. "It was a bit of a slow finish but it was a good way to open up.
"I felt like I left a couple out there but my game was in pretty good shape other than that and four rounds like that might go a long way this week."