Peter Hedblom is no stranger to playing under intense pressure.

He has won nine times in his professional career, which stretches back to 1988. He even led the Open Championship for a time back in 1996 at Royal Lytham before a third round 75 derailed his bid to become the first Swede to win a major championship.

He hasn’t been a prolific winner or even a big money-winner (€5.1 million spread over 25 years, or 448 tournaments). But for most of his career he’s played well enough to keep his European Tour playing card or have limited starts, at a minimum in a handful of events.

The last thing he wants to do is head back to Qualifying School for an 11th time, which is why he needs to win or finish second this week in the European Tour season-ending Perth International.

To that end, he’s on track to avoid Q-School as he leads the tournament with three others – 2010 British Amateur champion Jin Jeong, NSW’s James Nitties and Tasmanian Clint Rice –after an opening round of 68.

Hedblom’s four under total coming from six birdies and two bogies.

“The game didn't feel that good, but I kept the ball in the fairways,” the 43-year-old said. “I hit a few bad ones and I was lucky to bounce in the fairway, stuff like that. But a solid start.”

And as for his chances of jumping from No.189 on the money list to inside the top-110 to retain his European Tour playing privileges, Hedblom is taking it in his stride.

“I'm so far back,” he said. “I need a win or finish second really.

“Well, I mean, you have nothing to hold back. You just have to go for everything. You still have to go for everything but you're not happy to finish third or fourth or fifth or sixth or 10th. Just play as good as you can.”

He said he’s not feeling the pressure just yet.

“It's nothing really. Today it felt like any tournament when I'm starting,” he said.

Jin Jeong is seeking his first professional win. PHOTO: SMP IMAGES

“But now, I mean, good first round, and you know, if I will be leading playing the last day, then maybe I'll feel the tension. But right now, it's just one round out of four. But it's good to at least have a chance to do it.”

South Korean-born Victorian Jeong was the first to join Hedblom at the top of the leaderboard with a holed bunker shot birdie on his final hole, the uphill par-4 9th. Earlier in his round the 23-year-old holed his approach into the 406-metre par-4 18th for an eagle.

Jeong turned professional in 2011 and is yet to register his first pro win. He played a handful of events on the European Challenge Tour this year with one top-10 finish and now he is the co-leader after day one of the richest event on the Australasian Tour.

Even he seemed surprised to shoot four under and be co-leader of the $2 million tournament.

“I wasn't expecting to play that well to be honest but it was really good,” he said.

“I thought the course was quite tough. And I wasn't hitting that good the last couple days, but tried to focus on what I'm doing. The weather was perfect today, as well, so that helped. And a couple of hole outs, 18 I hit 6 iron from 167 and that went in, and the last hole, bunker shot in, that definitely helped.

“I hit some really good shots and really good putts. Overall, it was really good. Speed on the greens was an issue for me. The greens were pretty quick and firm, as well. So it wasn't easy to putt well.”

Jeong is no stranger to the Lake Karrinyup course having finished second in the strokeplay section of the Australian Amateur championship here in 2010

“I'm quite happy with this course and it suits my game pretty well,” he said.

The windless and ideal scoring conditions for the morning field gave way to blue skies and a slight afternoon breeze, which made scoring far more difficult, particularly as the greens got much firmer.

But that didn’t stop Nitties and Rice, both of whom found very different ways to get to the four under mark. Nitties opened his round with back-to-back birdies and added another five during the round including two to end the round and to join the lead.

But he wasn’t happy with the way he hit the ball and rued some missed short putts.

“I’ll definitely take the score,” he said. “I love being in the lead of a tournament, but I actually want to go to the range because I didn't hit it that great.

“I just managed myself pretty well today and then when I did hit a bad shot, I was in the right area, like short of the green where a pin was in front or fat side of the green.

“But I missed a couple 2 footers early, which I usually don't do and the greens are perfect, so there's no excuse. I suppose I'm happy where I played in spurts and took advantage of my opportunities.”

Conversely to Nitties’ combination of birdies and bogies, Rice had a flawless day, putting four birdies on the card and no bogies.

Rice, who missed the cut in this event last year, had a terrific ball-striking round and when he did miss a green he was able to convert the par-saving putts.

“ Any time you go bogey free, you're always going to be thereabouts,” Rice, who played on the PGA Tour of Canada in 2013, said.

“I had a few testing par saves throughout the round and just putted well when I needed to. It wasn't an outstanding putting day. I certainly had a lot more opportunities around my second nine to shoot a low number, but I guess everyone, most people can say that sort of thing. But to stay bogey free … had an attitude and stayed pretty calm. I guess that helps.”

Dustin Johnson cruised to a three under 69 but rued missed chances on the par-5s. PHOTO: SMP IMAGES

Tournament favourite Dustin Johnson, still suffering the effects of a head cold, managed to post a 69 and he is in a large group of players sitting one shot back from the leaders at three under.

“This golf course is good. I think it's fun to play. You can reach all the par-5s, a couple of short par 4s,” he said. “But the greens are really tricky. They are really firm and they are really fast. So … you've really got to be careful where you hit the ball on your second shots. You don't want too many downhill putts because it's hard to stop the ball. You know, if you miss the green on the wrong side, you're dead.”

Brady Watt is the only amateur in the field but he's more than capable of upsetting the pros. PHOTO: GOLFWA

There’s a host of Australians alongside Johnson at three under including Perth born-and-bred Nick O’Hern, fellow left-hander Nick Cullen, young Sydney pro Dimi Papadatos and the only amateur in the field Brady Watt.

2012 champion Bo Van Pelt opened his defence of the title well with a two under 70, but was disappointed he didn’t birdie any of the par-5s.

“I was pleased with how I played overall. Just like my sense of how I hit it, finally hit some good shots. I think I only missed two or three greens,” Van Pelt said.

“It was good after having a long layoff to come out. I was disappointed … I don't think I birdied one of the par 5s, and I think if you're going to play well at this golf course, you've got to take advantage of those holes.

“So hopefully the next three days I can do a better job of that. I feel like I hit some good iron shots. My distance control was a little off. I kept coming up short after thinking I hit some pretty good shots. So I need to make a little adjustment to that going forward just to try to get the ball pin high.”