Andrew Martin's slow start at the New Zealand Open

Martin started Thursday with a birdie on the par-71 Remarkables course at Millbrook before carding five-straight pars to be one-under through six.

He then scored back-to-back birdies on holes seven and eight before dropping a shot on the ninth to make the turn at two-under.

Looking to avoid any more scoreboard damage he made four straight pars to start the back nine, but then dropped a shot on 14 to move back to one-under with four to play.

After a par on 15 he put another pair of birdies down on 16 and 17, and then capped off the day with a bogey on 18 to finish at two-under (69).

Among the best scores on day one includes Tom Power Horan (Coronet), Yosuke Asaji (Remarkables), Seven Alker (Remarkables) and Gunn Charoenkul (Remarkables) at six-under.

Golf news:

Martin takes on the par 71 Coronet course on Friday morning at 5.40am (AEDT) alongside Steven Jefress, Robbie Bennetts (a) and Paul Willis (a).

Including the NZ Open, only four events remain on the schedule which means Martin requires big results to secure a top-three spot on the OOM to earn himself a DP World Tour card.

After the final season event at The National in early April the top-ranked players will be rewarded with cards for the European-based tour, and as it stands Martin is third on the running with 652.13 points.

Fellow Victorian David Micheluzzi (979.95) is the current outright leader after scoring his second win of the season two weeks ago at TPS Sydney.

Meanwhile, over in the United States Lucas Herbert is preparing for one of the PGA Tour's most iconic events - the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Named in honour of one of the sport's greatest golfers, the event is held at the iconic Bay Hill Club Lodge in Florida.

The star-studded field includes defending champion Scottie Scheffler, world number one Jon Rahm, 2022 US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick and fellow Australian Adam Scott.

He tees up at 12.17am (AEDT) on Friday morning alongside Russell Henley and Luke Donald.

Herbert is currently ranked 51st on the Official World Golf Rankings ahead of Bay Hill but will need to secure top results in the coming weeks to secure a spot in the sport's most prestigious event - the Masters.

Golfers ranked 50-and-below by the end of March cut-off date receive automatic entry into the tournament at Augusta National.

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