Defending champ battles through

Steve Jeffress has battled through the first round of the 2015 Fiji International in conditions that tested the 154 strong field.

Opening his round at Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course with back-to-back bogeys, the defending champion was challenged by the wind which reached speeds of 65km throughout parts of the day.

“It was tough, straight away from the first hole the 10th tee, hitting a hard left drive with a hard left to right wind, the whole day was tough, whether it was a two-foot putt or a drive, everything was a battle out there today.” said Jeffress after his round.

But in spite of the horrendous conditions out on course, Jeffress was satisfied with his round; admitting that normally wind was something that he didn’t mind and that this week he was hoping for it.

“I kind of don’t mind (the wind) in a way,”

“I had a 76 today which isn’t a bad score, but I felt like I played poorly for how I can play. I didn’t think I played anywhere near what I could have, but I’m sure a lot of guys would say that.”

“I don’t think I could have shot more than 76, which is a good thing.”

However, the challenge of playing a course like Natadola is something that often suits Jeffress and he tends to like it when things go down to the wire.

“I generally play well on tough golf courses, so if even par was the winning score here that’s the type of golf I enjoy.”

While conditions today provided a challenge to the Pros, Jeffress believes that today’s play made for good entertainment for spectators, both here and at home.

“I think people like to see Pros play well, but they also like to see them get challenged.”

“Even though it’s blowing it’s difficult and the scores are high and it’s a good challenge, I think people like to see Pros get challenged.”

“With new technology everything seems so easy for the Pros but I can tell you its not, it’s a good challenge so hopefully people watching will see it’s tough for us sometimes too”.

Round two of the Fiji International gets underway tomorrow at 6:15am with live broadcast internationally on FoxSports.