Coles shot a four-over round of 76 to slide right down the leaderboard and leave himself a lot of work to do in his second round.

Unfortunately for Coles, there were few who performed worse than him and he finds himself in a share of 146th position.

The event is played on three courses, the Pebble Beach host course, Spyglass Hill Golf Club and Monterey Penisula Golf Club and most of players at all courses were able to shoot solid scores.

Coles had a mixed start to the day with three birdies and three bogeys on the first nine holes to start the back of the course still on even par, but there was no joy for him there.

It was on the par-four 10th that things started to go wrong.

The Bathurst golfer’s tee shot went wide to the left of the fairway, finding a bunker and his second shot cleared that, only to find the next sand trap.

He took two more shots to find the green, only for his putt for bogey to glide just past the hole. He tapped in for a double bogey that was followed by another bogey on the following hole.

Another dropped shot on the 15th rounded out what had been a disappointing day.

Coles took to Twitter after the match to express his disappointment with his performance.

“Feel pretty embarrassed with that score, only made one putt over six feet and one from five feet, three bad tee balls cost me four shots,” he tweeted.

“Definitely a good walk and great views spoilt with some terrible golf.”

In form New Zealander Danny Lee is tied with Korean Charlie Wi and American Dustin Johnson for the lead on nine-under.

Lee and Johnson were both playing at Pebble Beach while Wi was at Monterey Peninsula. They are believed to be the two easier courses while Spyglass Hill is much tougher.

Johnson said he enjoyed his round and he is optimistic for the rest of the event.

“Today I would have liked any golf course,” Johnson said. “but I love being out here. I love the courses. They all set up very well for me,” Johnson said.

“I feel comfortable on them, especially off the tees. All the greens out here I’m really comfortable with reading them. I think I see the putts very well.”