Killarney professional Jaco van Zyl led the way after the opening round of the Telkom PGA Championships played at the par-72 Woodhill Country Club layout on Thursday.
However, it is pretty tight at the top of the leaderboard. Van Zyl, who turns 26 next Wednesday, signed for a seven-under-par 65, just one shot ahead of Dunhill Championship winner Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen and alternate Elmar van den Berg.
On five-under-par 67 lie Jean Hugo and Dion Fourie, with Warren Abery, Chris Davison, Titch Moore, Kenyan Anil Shah and Bobby Lincoln all shooting four-under 68s.
Despite the announcement that the course was playing tougher than ever, 66 golfers in the 156-man field shot below par with another 19 lying on level par. The faster greens, the thicker rough, and the clear skies with nothing more than a little breeze did little to prevent many of the golfers from posting useful scores.
While irritated with his bogey at the last, Van Zyl was nonetheless elated with his round.
”When I got through eight holes at four under par, I felt that if I could get three more [birdies] I’d be quite happy. I got to eight under with one to play, so it was a little disappointing to bogey the last.
”But seven under par is seven under par, so I’m happy where I’m sitting for tomorrow.”
His three putts on 18 were the only blemish in an otherwise impressive score card. His run of four successive birdies began on the par-five third when his third shot left him with a seven-footer.
Van Zyl picked up another shot on the par-four ninth to turn in 31, five under par, and continued in the same vein with birdies on 11, 13 and 17.
Unfortunately, the speedy greens cost him at the last.
After hitting his tee-shot into the rough on the left of the fairway, Van Zyl hit a nine-iron that pitched on the green and just kept going — 30 feet past the hole. His putt back ran seven feet past the hole and he just missed the par putt.
The Killarney professional has been playing consistently this season, his best result so far coming at the SAA Open, co-sanctioned with the European Tour, where he ended joint 18th.
Schwartzel, who teed off from the 10th tee, also had just one black number on his card — at the par-three second. Birdies at 11, 13, 16 and 17 saw him turn in four-under 32, which he extended to five under at the par-four first.
Schwartzel then had what he termed an ”unfortunate” drop on two, got it back on three and picked up another shot at the par-four eighth for his 66.
The Sunshine Tour Order of Merit leader says he is motivated for this tournament and is now well placed to go on from here and take the title.
”Once you’ve tasted success, you want another win and another. I definitely want to try to win this week and the Tour Championship next week.
”In fact, there is nothing I would like better before I go off to join the European Tour.”
Andre Cruse’s misfortune — he had to withdraw as he had not fully recovered from elbow surgery — became Van den Berg’s good fortune when he was drafted into the tournament.
The Pecanwood professional just missed out at the qualifying tournament and was made first reserve. But he made the best of his opportunity on Thursday, going out in two-under 34 and coming back in four-under 32 for his 66.
Oosthuizen is another player who has shown great consistency this season and the 22-year-old had another fine round on Thursday.
Like his main opposition, he too had one bogey, which came at the par-four sixth. Other than that, Oosthuizen birdied holes three, four, five, 11, 12, 13 and 18. — Sapa