'Your eyes burn': Australian Open golfers feel bushfire smoke

Toxic smoke from bushfires choking Sydney blighted the Australian Open golf tournament Thursday with one player complaining his eyes were burning and he had trouble seeing where his ball landed.

The event, a warm-up for many on the International team at next week's Presidents Cup, got under way with haze enveloping the course from fires burning out of control throughout New South Wales state.

Japanese amateur Takumi Kanaya was the early clubhouse leader after hitting a six-under-par 65, with Matt Jones, the 2015 champion, two strokes behind.

Jones said the conditions, at the Australian Golf Club, were some of the worst he had encountered.

"I'm not sure what the forecast is, but the smoke's not good at all. It's tough to see your golf ball when you're out there playing, where it finishes. Your eyes do burn," he said.

"I've got that cough like you've got something in your lungs, phlegm in your lungs or whatever, but it's not fun. I hope my kids are inside in the hotel room."
"I haven't really felt any different, it's just kind of the look. But we'll see after the four days, it might take a bit out of everyone, I'm sure."