Visiting American Brandt Snedeker is headed for an early exit in his first appearance in the Australian PGA Championship at the Royal Pines Resort on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

The seven-time PGA Tour winner, who captured this year’s AT & T Pebble National Pro-Am, looked more like a weekend amateur slumping to his worse ever score of a 12-over par 84.

You can check Snedeker’s PGA Tour record back to 2005 and the highest score he’s shot is a handful of 80s with the last being that score on day three of the 2014 Masters.

Snedeker could manage just one birdie in the tough windy and sometimes wet conditions.

Visiting American Brandt Snedeker wondering where it all went wrong on day one of the Australian PGA Championship.

Included also in the 34-year old Tennessee-born round was eight bogeys along with a back-to-back double bogey and triple bogey at the 12th and 13th holes.

Playing in the second group out this morning, Snedeker was confronted with strong winds, rain and a long bogey train.

Feeling the full effects of the blustery conditions it took Snedeker 15 holes to card his first birdie, although by that stage he had reached a staggering 11 over par and it was too little too late.

“Just a horrible day, there’s nothing else to say,” he said.

“I wish I could put a positive spin on it but I got off to a bad start, compounded my errors and then didn’t do anything really.

“The only thing I can think about today was,the conditions were tough. If you got it going a little bit sideways today you can make some big numbers, and I did.’

A cluster of International contenders dominated the first day’s play with Dylan Frittelli holding the early clubhouse lead with a round of 2-under par 70.

Fellow South African Zander Lombard was the eventual first round leader with a blistering round of 5-under par 67 which he described as the most ‘professional’ round of his career.

Round two gets underway at 6:00am tomorrow with Snedeker beginning his resurgence at 11:15am in what must be a forlorn hope of making the weekend.