John Wade and Thorbjorn Olesen tie for lead at Perth International

Australian Wade only secured his place in the tournament at Lake Karrinyup when he birdied the final three holes in qualifying on Monday, and the world number 1,502 made the most of his opportunity on Thursday to finish eight under.

Wade's opening round was then matched by Olesen, with the pair two shots clear of a group of four players on six under.

After starting at the 10th, Wade birdied four of his first five holes, with an eagle on the 15th further helping his cause.

The 46-year-old picked up shots on the third and seventh in his back nine and admitted it is an unfamiliar feeling to be leading a tournament.

"It feels a bit weird actually," he said Wade.
"I certainly haven't been top of the leaderboard for a hell of a long time.

"I just got a fast start. I didn't play well last week, so wasn't in a lot of form going in, but once I got a fast start, I had to think 'well, maybe I've turned it around a little bit'.

"I didn't really leave any out there. I got a couple of up and downs in and stuff like that, which helps your round, definitely.

"This is ridiculous really. I didn't know what to expect. I just was proud that I didn't let it go after I was six under, which is really annoying for most guys. And someone in my situation, you're probably half expecting that to happen."

Olesen, meanwhile, made a flying start to his round after three birdies in the first four holes, with the Dane seeking his first European Tour win since he triumphed at the Sicilian Open in April 2012.

"I played really, really well the front nine especially," he said. "The back nine I hit a couple bad drives, but got a little bit lucky and got away with them.

"My short game was amazing out there. My chipping, bunker shots were really, really good, so I'm very pleased with the round.

"It's been a few years since I won. Especially the last six months I feel like I've played some good golf and just haven't been able to put the rounds together, so it"s been a dry period.

"It would be really, really nice to get some confidence back, and to get a win would be amazing."