Lingmerth rues 'brutal' wind at PGA champs

Swedish star David Lingmerth says he's rarely encountered conditions as harsh as those which wreaked havoc with the field on day one of the Australian PGA Championship on the Gold Coast.

Sideways rain and howling winds of around 50km/h made for a nightmare first round on Thursday morning at the Royal Pines resort.

World No.57 Lingmerth battled through the worst of it, slumping to four-over at the turn, but staged a comeback on the way back in with three birdies, leaving him at one-over 73 and in touch with the leaders.

That was more than could be said for leading drawcard Brandt Snedeker of the US who slumped to a 12-over 84.

"Warming up on the range this morning, one over, I probably wouldn't have been too happy with (that score)," Lingmerth said.

"If you asked me six holes into this round I would have been extremely excited.

"Sitting here at one over, I'm feeling good about the next few days."

Lingmerth described the wind as "brutal" and said it was the main reason behind his early struggles.

"I can tell you I've probably only played one tournament on the PGA Tour besides the Open Championships at St Andrews this past season that was this windy, or windier," he said.

"It doesn't get like this very often. It was very hard."