Rickie Fowler dominates Australian PGA Rickie Fowler, the cordial young Californian, gets asked about his dirt bikes and outfits and hat collections so often it's all too easy to forget he brings a set of golf clubs when he travels. It took just one round at the Australian PGA Championship on the Gold Coast for the 24-year-old to remind everyone that while he loves the trappings of his trade, on the course he remains all business. Fowler was out early at Royal Pines on Thursday and struck a telling blow before the greens slowed in the sunny conditions, firing an eight-under 63 that included a bristling run on the front nine, where he found six birdies in eight holes to close out his round. In a blue-chip group that also included Marc Leishman (two-under 69), Fowler lived up to his billing as the tournament second favourite, warming to the task as his game finally came together following a challenging few weeks in China and Malaysia. He gained momentum throughout to lead by two from local hope Matthew Ballard, Victorian journeyman David McKenzie and Adam Scott, who stalked the frontrunners and looks in ominous touch. Fowler's haul was technically a course record, given this is the first time the rejigged Royal Pines layout has been used since some of the tees were lengthened in time for the championship, being held here for the first time after moving from Coolum. "I stayed patient and finally got a few things to go, made a couple of good up and downs," Fowler said. To keep shooting under par and put myself in a position to go into Sunday and have a chance to win the golf tournament is where I want to be. (But) you can't really put a number on it, conditions change so much day to day. You shoot eight under one day and you never know what's going to happen the next. Fowler has become a golfing road warrior and unlike many of his American counterparts, enjoys challenging himself in various parts of the globe. His entire family has travelled with him to Royal Pines and wouldn't have been disappointed with his blistering round one showing. The mauling of Royal Pines, thought by many to be an easy kill for golfers of this standard, failed to transpire, with plenty of players struggling to get going in the face of tricky pin placements and testing breezes later in the day. McKenzie found himself at minus seven before dropping back to be in a tie for second with Ballard, a Gold Coast native who played representative touch football with Darren Lockyer and had dreams of an NRL career at one point. But it was Scott who they came to see. A strong gallery of 1500 fans followed the US Masters champion's every move as he produced a round of sublime quality to put himself in the box seat for an early move on Friday. He said he had some early yips, before scrambling for a par on the opening hole and clicking straight back into competition mode after a refreshing break. And once the driver began flowing freely, he put on a clinic, thumping the ball with crisp precision to have the Royal Pines layout largely at his mercy. My driving today was basically flawless. It was how I like to drive the golf ball. That's what I think I'm really good at and I haven't driven it that well since The Open Championship this year. Today was a bit of a driving display," Scott said. The rest of the game was solid. It's just a tricky course because you don't want to miss greens. Chipping and putting around here a lot is going to be difficult. I didn't make too many putts but it all added up alright. You may think a win on the biggest stage of all at Augusta would make a tournament like the PGA a walk in the park for Scott, but he said the nerves were kicking in on the first tee, with friends, family and an expectant crowd all wanting him to find more form. I think I was ready for it today, I had a nice break but had the nerves going on the first tee. I'm pretty pleased to get that out of the way and set myself up for a good week," Scott said. Scott said it was no surprise to see Fowler leading the charge, although he doubted the course would yield those type of consistent low scores over the next three days. He's obviously played beautifully. I don't think we're going to be shooting 32 under this week but Rickie has put himself in a position to have a run at this event. He's a world-class player and has taken a liking to the golf course," Scott said. Nathan Green (-5) was alone in fifth, while Jason Norris, Sven Puymbroeck and Korean's Kwon Sung-yeol all finished at four-under 67.