Australian PGA Championship First-Round Leader Tips: Fox to get a flyer

• 22/1 Ryan Fox is a regular fast starter

• 80/1 local man Jack McLeod has course form

• Nicolai Hojgaard can shine early at 40s

Weather forecast for Thursday: It's a warm and overcast day in Eagle Farm, Queensland. Temperatures peak in the high 80s around 1pm while winds are fairly modest. Perhaps they're just a touch higher in the afternoon so I'll pick two morning starters and one late.

Flying Fox

Ryan Fox has been a first-round specialist in 2022 and there's every chance in a pretty modest field like this he can finish top of the charts again on day one.

Fox has secured four 18-hole leads this season, those quick starts coming at the Ras al Khaimah Championship, the British Masters, the Irish Open and the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

The latter came just two weeks ago when he started out with a 66.

Fox is coming off a brilliant season after finishing sixth in the DP World Tour rankings with earnings of 3,318,365 Euros and he'll be keen to put on another show here with plenty of New Zealanders likely to be out in support.

He has a win and a second in two of his last four starts in Australia and, in terms of this market, Fox has ended day one in the top 15 in five of his last six visits.

To get his competitive juices flowing, Fox has been put in an all-star three-ball alongside Cam Smith and Adam Scott at 06.00. Back him at 22/1.

Jump in for Jake

The 2022 Aussie PGA Championship was held on this week's course, Royal Queensland, in January although that was a local Australasian Tour event rather than being part of the DP World Tour schedule.

Jake McLeod, a Queensland local, finished sixth there and I like him for a fast start here too.

The 28-year-old was a first-round leader on his home Tour just four starts ago while last week he sat fourth after day one of the Queensland PGA Championship.

Widening the lens, he's been in the top seven after the opening lap of five of his last 10 starts.

On those numbers he looks a decent bet at 80/1 to go low early from his 11.30 tee-time.

Nicolai can nail it

I looked at a few Aussie locals who have course form but the market recognises that to a large extent.

Therefore, given that the course has wide fairways and little rough, I'll pick another classy DP World Tour star and back big-hitting Nicolai Hojgaard at 40s.

It's twin brother Rasmus (22/1 for FRL) who is making more headlines at the moment but Nicolai was 16th in the Mallorca Open just three starts ago.

He went low in round three there thanks to a 64 while an opening 68 had put him 16th after 18 holes.

The Dane will be keen to hit the ground running after watching from the sidelines as his brother battled it out for the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai last week.

And an early tee-time of 06.20 just after the big-gun groups featuring Cam Smith, Adam Scott, Ryan Fox, Cam Davis and his brother should ensure a lively atmosphere and one in which he can thrive.