European Tour journeyman Andrew McLardy of South Africa took the first-round lead in the inaugural, co-sanctioned Jo’burg Open on Thursday with an eight-under-par 63 on the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington club’s West course.
The club has two fine courses, the long, tough par-71 East and the easier par-72 West, and both are being used for the first two rounds to accommodate the larger-than-normal field of 200 players — 100 each from the European and Sunshine Tours.
McLardy completed the back nine on the West in just 29 strokes, helped considerably by eagle-threes at the par-5 15th and the par-5 18th.
”It’s funny, but I only hit one fairway on the first nine and that was at the first hole,” said the South African, who turns 33 next week.
”I was trying to hit the ball too hard I think, and lost my rhythm. So I slowed things down on the back nine and the game was a lot crisper.”
McLardy is one clear of two other South Africans, Warren Abery and Mark Murless, who both signed for 64 on the West, and Italy’s Edoardo Molinari, who won the 2005 United States Amateur before turning professional.
Six players shot 65 — the South African trio of Hennie Otto, Louis Oosthuizen and Brandon Pieters, Zimbabwe’s big-hitting Marc Cayeux, the English pair of David Park and Chris Gane and Germany’s resurgent Sven Struver.
The seven-under-par 64 by Molinari on the East course was arguably the most impressive round of the day as the East — with three par-4s of over 500 yards — is generally regarded as two or three shots more difficult than the West.
”I only had one bad shot all day and that was when I missed the green with my approach at the 15th. But I made a good up and down to save par,” added the 25-year-old from Torino, who is a rookie and only has Challenge Tour playing privileges but is teeing up here on a sponsor’s exemption.
Otto and Struver also played on the East. — AFP
