Bouncy greens curtail Australian Open

The Australian open has been cut to 54 holes after the opening day's play at Melbourne's Victoria Golf Club was abandoned as glass-top greens reduced putting to a farce.

In embarrassing scenes reminiscent of the 1987 championship – when Sandy Lyle led a walk-out as extreme winds left the Royal Melbourne course unplayable – play was halted and all scores wiped out.

The Australian John Senden was the only player of the 96 to have started who was under par – and he had only completed the first hole. The cancellation of the first round, although inevitable, caused major embarrassment for Australian golf officials. "I think we're all laughing, I think it is quite humourous," the former US PGA winner Rich Beem said when he was asked if people would be laughing at the day's events. "The players are beside themselves thinking: 'How can this happen?'

"I have only been playing professionally for four years but I've never heard of anything like this. It seems to me that nobody from the rules committee stepped foot on the golf course until this morning and then went 'oops, that's kind of fast.' "

The Australian Golf Union (AGU) executive director Colin Phillips accepted blame for the day's events, saying:"I went around and set the pins myself this morning. There was a tinge of green on some of them, admittedly it was at 5.30. I thought they were looking much better this morning."

* Ireland's Des Smyth maintained his share of the lead at the halfway stage of the US Champions Tour Qualifying Tournament in Florida. Smyth carded a second-round 68 for a nine-under total of 135 alongside Japan's Seiji Ebihara.

* Darren Clarke led Tiger Woods by seven shots after the first round of the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Miyazaki, Japan, after hitting a seven-under-par 64. Woods struggled and needed two late birdies for a level-par 71, while Justin Rose was in joint second place with the local pair, Kaname Yokoo and Tsukasa Watanabe.

* Padraig Harrington ended the first day of the the European Tour season-opening BMW Asian Open in Taowan one shot off the lead. The Irishman hit six birdies for a six-under 66, behind the Indian Jyoti Randhawa.