JOBURG OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Neil is local hero with nine-under-par 62
FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Johannesburg local Neil Schietekat fired the best professional round of his career to take the first-round lead at the Joburg Open with a sensational nine-under-par 62.
The South African, who has yet to win on the Sunshine Tour where he plays most of his golf, picked up nine birdies without dropping a shot as he beat the previous tournament lowest round by one.
That was enough for a one-stroke lead from last week’s Africa Open winner Charl Schwartzel, Darren Clarke, Jbe’ Kruger and English pair David Lynn and Simon Khan.
All of the leaders played their opening round on the West Course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, with English duo Danny Willett and Barry Lane’s 65s the best score on offer on the longer East Course.
Players alternate between the two courses over the first two rounds before the tournament moves to the East Course for the weekend.
Schietekat, the World No 1,074, revealed that some improvements made to his game last year had finally paid dividends.
“It’s all about putting, and I actually changed my putting grip just before the Alfred Dunhill Championship and it’s started to pay off now,” he said.
“When I teed off today, I thought that we were on the easier course, the West course, and I knew that around five or six under would be a good one, and then I made a lot of putts. I hit the ball pretty solid, and I putted really well.”
Clarke, 44, collected five birdies in an outward 31 and picked up three more shots coming home.
The last time he shot lower was his European Tour record-equalling 60 in the 1999 European Open, much closer to home at The K Club near Dublin.
“I hit it close a lot of times, and the only putt I really holed was on 17 from about 20 feet,” said Clarke of his round.
Schwartzel had a superb seven birdies in a row around the turn to be eight under after 11, but any thoughts of a 59 went when he double bogeyed the 450 yard 12th after three-putting from just a few feet.
But The Race to Dubai leader, 51st in the World Rankings, came back with birdie 2s on the 206yd 13th and 174yd 16th.
Lane, 50 in June, is second to Sam Torrance in making the most appearances on The European Tour and his 649th event began with a bogey.
But it was to prove his only mistake. With wife Camilla again acting as his caddie, he birdied five of the next eight and made further gains on the 14th and 18th.
SCOTSWATCH BY COLIN FARQUHARSON: Alastair Forsyth had a bogey-free, seven-birdie round of 64 (31-33) to be two shots off the pace among the West Course returns. Andrew McArthur (34-31) was close behind with a six-under 65 which included eight birdies and two early bogeys, at the third and fourth. Jamies McLeary came home in 31 for a 68 at the West where he had an eagle, third birdies and two bogeys. Scott Drummond's 70 (36-34) was marred by a triple bogey and two bogeys. He had to shoot six birdies to cancel them out. Steven O'Hara and David Drysdale both hit the one-over 72 mark but by different routes. O'Hara had halves of 35 and 37 with two birdies and three bogeys. Drysdale had halves of 38-34 with four bogeys and three birdies.
Over the longer East Course, Peter Whiteford's 66 was only one behind Danny Lee and Barry Lane. Whiteford's halves of 34-32 were studded with six birdies and only one shot dropped. Paul Lawrie's 68 should have boosted his confidence. This was his first tournament since he had back problems in December. Paul had halves of 33-35 with five birdies and two bogeys. Callum Macaulay had a 70 (36-34) with three birdies and two bogeys. Alan McLean's 71 was a good damage-repair performance, considering he had a double bogey and five bogeys. He had seven birdies in halves of 33-38. Stephen Gallacher had four bogeys and three birdies for his 72 (36-36) while
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Royal Johannesburg and Kensington GC, Johannesburg, South Africa
WEST COURSE. Par 71 (36-35), 7146yd.
62 Neil Schietekat (Rsa)
63 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Jbe Kruger (Rsa), David Lynn, Darren Clarke, Simon Khan
64 Alastair Forsyth 31-33.
65 Andrew McArthur 34-31, Matthew Zions (Aus), Clodomiro Carranza (Arg)
66 Carl Suneson (Spa), Henrik Nystrom (Swe), John Parry, Joost Luiten (Ned), Soren Hansen (Den), Paul Broadhurst, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra)
67 Desvonde Botes (Rsa), Neil Cheetham, Hennie Otto (Rsa), Jaco Ahlers (Rsa), Peter Baker, Marcel Siem (Ger), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Darren Fichardt (Rsa), Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Tjaart Van Der Walt (Rsa), Richard Sterne (Rsa), Deane Pappas (Rsa)
68 Jacques Blaauw (Rsa), Anton Haig (Rsa), Josh Cunliffe (Rsa), David Horsey, Richard McEvoy, Doug McGuigan, Jake Roos (Rsa), Andrew Curlewis (Rsa), Jamie McLeary 37-31, Robert Rock, Gary Boyd, Ross Wellington (Rsa), Ariel Canete (Arg), Dylan Frittelli (Rsa), Michael Hoey
69 Paulo Pinto (Arg), Tyrone Mordt (Rsa), Roope Kakko (Fin), Sion Bebb, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Paul Waring, Julien Guerrier (Fra), Carlos Rodiles (Spa), Kenneth Ferrie, George Coetzee (Rsa), James Morrison, Oliver Fisher, Scott Hend (Aus), Matthew Carvell (Rsa), Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe)
70 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Charlie Ford, Scott Drummond 36-34, Irvin Mazibuko (Rsa), Marc Cayeux (Zim), Danny Lee (Nzl), Dion Fourie (Rsa), Stephan Gross Jnr (Ger), Thabang Simon (Rsa), Phillip Archer, Edoardo Molinari (Ita)
71 Prinavin Nelson (Rsa), Clinton Whitelaw (Rsa), Daniel Brunson (USA), Stuart Anderson (Can), Ryan Cairns (Zim), Dale Whitnell, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Alexandre Kaleka (Fra), Lorenzo Gagli (Ita), Martin Maritz (Rsa)
72 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Steve Basson (Rsa), Toto Thimba junior (Rsa), Jean Hugo (Rsa), Michael Dreyer (Rsa), Bradford Vaughan (Rsa), Steven O'Hara 35-37, Albert Pistorius (Rsa), David Drysdale 38-34, Andre Bossert (Swi), Adrian Ford (Rsa), Daniel Greene (Rsa), Louis De Jager (Rsa), Charl Coetzee (Rsa)
73 Merrick Bremner (Rsa), Thomas Aiken (Rsa), Jake Redman (Rsa), Mohammed Tayob (Rsa)
74 Darren Holder (Rsa), Cameron Johnston (Rsa), Omar Sandys (Rsa)
76 Sipho Sithole (Rsa), Craig Liebenberg (USA)
77 Alphuis Kelapile (Rsa)
79 Emmanuel Masoliedze (Rsa)
EAST COURSE: Par 71 (36-35), 7590yd.
65 Danny Willett, Barry Lane
66 Peter Whiteford 34-32, Adilson Da Silva (Bra), Alejandro Canizares (Spa)
67 Reggie Adams (Rsa), Christiaan Basson (Rsa), Shaun Norris (Rsa), Branden Grace (Rsa), Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa), James Kamte (Rsa)
68 Titch Moore (Rsa), Christian Ries (Rsa), Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa), TC Charamba (Zim), Paul Lawrie 33-35, Keith Horne (Rsa)
69 Carlos Del Moral (Spa), Steven Jeppesen (Swe), Klas Eriksson (Swe), Julien Quesne (Fra), Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor), Warren Abery (Rsa), David Dixon, Andrew Marshall, Teboho Sefatsa (Rsa), Vaughn Groenewald (Rsa)
70 Brandon Pieters (Rsa), Chris Wood, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Robert Dinwiddie, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Gary Lockerbie, Sam Hutsby, Michiel Bothma (Rsa), Callum Macaulay 36-34, Dawie Van Der Walt (Rsa), Oliver Bekker (Rsa), Mark Haastrup (Den), Mark Murless (Rsa), Simon Thornton
71 Joakim Haeggman (Swe), Alex Haindl (Rsa), Alan McLean 37-31, Chris Swanepoel (Rsa), Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa), Mark Brown (Nzl), Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Jamie Elson, Theunis Spangenberg (Rsa), Grant Muller (Rsa), Justin Walters (Rsa), Benjamin Hebert (Fra), David Hewan (Rsa)
72 Patrik Sjoland (Swe), Anders Hansen (Den), Benn Barham, Nic Henning (Rsa), Kevin Stone (Rsa), Des Terblanche (Rsa), Trevor Fisher junior (Rsa), Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe), Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa), Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Phillip Price, Lee Slattery, Louis Moolman (Rsa), Stephen Gallacher 36-36, Richard Finch, Ryan Tipping (Rsa), Niall Kearney, Lindani Ndwandwe (Rsa)
73 Andrew Tampion (Aus), James Kingston (Rsa), Brett Liddle (Rsa), David Howell, Ali Tsai (Tpe), Rhys Davies, Warrick Druian (Rsa), Gary Clark, Gary Murphy, Marco Ruiz (Par), Tyrone Ferreira (Rsa), Francois Calmels (Fra), Miles Tunnicliff
74 Chris Gane, Eugen Marugi (Rsa), Andre Cruse (Rsa), Stuart Manley, Peter Lawrie, Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Byron Smith (USA), James Ruth, Sam Little
75 Divan Van Den Heever (Rsa), Keenan Davidse (Rsa), Steve Van Vuuren (Rsa)
76 Andrew Georgiou (Rsa), Rick Kulacz (Aus)
77 Anthony Michael (Rsa), Dean Lambert (Rsa), Willie Van Der Merwe (Rsa), Markus Brier (Aut)
79 Chris Williams (Rsa)
81 Muswalo Nethunzwi (Rsa)
FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Johannesburg local Neil Schietekat fired the best professional round of his career to take the first-round lead at the Joburg Open with a sensational nine-under-par 62.
The South African, who has yet to win on the Sunshine Tour where he plays most of his golf, picked up nine birdies without dropping a shot as he beat the previous tournament lowest round by one.
That was enough for a one-stroke lead from last week’s Africa Open winner Charl Schwartzel, Darren Clarke, Jbe’ Kruger and English pair David Lynn and Simon Khan.
All of the leaders played their opening round on the West Course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, with English duo Danny Willett and Barry Lane’s 65s the best score on offer on the longer East Course.
Players alternate between the two courses over the first two rounds before the tournament moves to the East Course for the weekend.
Schietekat, the World No 1,074, revealed that some improvements made to his game last year had finally paid dividends.
“It’s all about putting, and I actually changed my putting grip just before the Alfred Dunhill Championship and it’s started to pay off now,” he said.
“When I teed off today, I thought that we were on the easier course, the West course, and I knew that around five or six under would be a good one, and then I made a lot of putts. I hit the ball pretty solid, and I putted really well.”
Clarke, 44, collected five birdies in an outward 31 and picked up three more shots coming home.
The last time he shot lower was his European Tour record-equalling 60 in the 1999 European Open, much closer to home at The K Club near Dublin.
“I hit it close a lot of times, and the only putt I really holed was on 17 from about 20 feet,” said Clarke of his round.
Schwartzel had a superb seven birdies in a row around the turn to be eight under after 11, but any thoughts of a 59 went when he double bogeyed the 450 yard 12th after three-putting from just a few feet.
But The Race to Dubai leader, 51st in the World Rankings, came back with birdie 2s on the 206yd 13th and 174yd 16th.
Lane, 50 in June, is second to Sam Torrance in making the most appearances on The European Tour and his 649th event began with a bogey.
But it was to prove his only mistake. With wife Camilla again acting as his caddie, he birdied five of the next eight and made further gains on the 14th and 18th.
SCOTSWATCH BY COLIN FARQUHARSON: Alastair Forsyth had a bogey-free, seven-birdie round of 64 (31-33) to be two shots off the pace among the West Course returns. Andrew McArthur (34-31) was close behind with a six-under 65 which included eight birdies and two early bogeys, at the third and fourth. Jamies McLeary came home in 31 for a 68 at the West where he had an eagle, third birdies and two bogeys. Scott Drummond's 70 (36-34) was marred by a triple bogey and two bogeys. He had to shoot six birdies to cancel them out. Steven O'Hara and David Drysdale both hit the one-over 72 mark but by different routes. O'Hara had halves of 35 and 37 with two birdies and three bogeys. Drysdale had halves of 38-34 with four bogeys and three birdies.
Over the longer East Course, Peter Whiteford's 66 was only one behind Danny Lee and Barry Lane. Whiteford's halves of 34-32 were studded with six birdies and only one shot dropped. Paul Lawrie's 68 should have boosted his confidence. This was his first tournament since he had back problems in December. Paul had halves of 33-35 with five birdies and two bogeys. Callum Macaulay had a 70 (36-34) with three birdies and two bogeys. Alan McLean's 71 was a good damage-repair performance, considering he had a double bogey and five bogeys. He had seven birdies in halves of 33-38. Stephen Gallacher had four bogeys and three birdies for his 72 (36-36) while
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Royal Johannesburg and Kensington GC, Johannesburg, South Africa
WEST COURSE. Par 71 (36-35), 7146yd.
62 Neil Schietekat (Rsa)
63 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Jbe Kruger (Rsa), David Lynn, Darren Clarke, Simon Khan
64 Alastair Forsyth 31-33.
65 Andrew McArthur 34-31, Matthew Zions (Aus), Clodomiro Carranza (Arg)
66 Carl Suneson (Spa), Henrik Nystrom (Swe), John Parry, Joost Luiten (Ned), Soren Hansen (Den), Paul Broadhurst, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra)
67 Desvonde Botes (Rsa), Neil Cheetham, Hennie Otto (Rsa), Jaco Ahlers (Rsa), Peter Baker, Marcel Siem (Ger), Pelle Edberg (Swe), Darren Fichardt (Rsa), Andrew McLardy (Rsa), Tjaart Van Der Walt (Rsa), Richard Sterne (Rsa), Deane Pappas (Rsa)
68 Jacques Blaauw (Rsa), Anton Haig (Rsa), Josh Cunliffe (Rsa), David Horsey, Richard McEvoy, Doug McGuigan, Jake Roos (Rsa), Andrew Curlewis (Rsa), Jamie McLeary 37-31, Robert Rock, Gary Boyd, Ross Wellington (Rsa), Ariel Canete (Arg), Dylan Frittelli (Rsa), Michael Hoey
69 Paulo Pinto (Arg), Tyrone Mordt (Rsa), Roope Kakko (Fin), Sion Bebb, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Paul Waring, Julien Guerrier (Fra), Carlos Rodiles (Spa), Kenneth Ferrie, George Coetzee (Rsa), James Morrison, Oliver Fisher, Scott Hend (Aus), Matthew Carvell (Rsa), Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe)
70 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Charlie Ford, Scott Drummond 36-34, Irvin Mazibuko (Rsa), Marc Cayeux (Zim), Danny Lee (Nzl), Dion Fourie (Rsa), Stephan Gross Jnr (Ger), Thabang Simon (Rsa), Phillip Archer, Edoardo Molinari (Ita)
71 Prinavin Nelson (Rsa), Clinton Whitelaw (Rsa), Daniel Brunson (USA), Stuart Anderson (Can), Ryan Cairns (Zim), Dale Whitnell, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Alexandre Kaleka (Fra), Lorenzo Gagli (Ita), Martin Maritz (Rsa)
72 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Steve Basson (Rsa), Toto Thimba junior (Rsa), Jean Hugo (Rsa), Michael Dreyer (Rsa), Bradford Vaughan (Rsa), Steven O'Hara 35-37, Albert Pistorius (Rsa), David Drysdale 38-34, Andre Bossert (Swi), Adrian Ford (Rsa), Daniel Greene (Rsa), Louis De Jager (Rsa), Charl Coetzee (Rsa)
73 Merrick Bremner (Rsa), Thomas Aiken (Rsa), Jake Redman (Rsa), Mohammed Tayob (Rsa)
74 Darren Holder (Rsa), Cameron Johnston (Rsa), Omar Sandys (Rsa)
76 Sipho Sithole (Rsa), Craig Liebenberg (USA)
77 Alphuis Kelapile (Rsa)
79 Emmanuel Masoliedze (Rsa)
EAST COURSE: Par 71 (36-35), 7590yd.
65 Danny Willett, Barry Lane
66 Peter Whiteford 34-32, Adilson Da Silva (Bra), Alejandro Canizares (Spa)
67 Reggie Adams (Rsa), Christiaan Basson (Rsa), Shaun Norris (Rsa), Branden Grace (Rsa), Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa), James Kamte (Rsa)
68 Titch Moore (Rsa), Christian Ries (Rsa), Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa), TC Charamba (Zim), Paul Lawrie 33-35, Keith Horne (Rsa)
69 Carlos Del Moral (Spa), Steven Jeppesen (Swe), Klas Eriksson (Swe), Julien Quesne (Fra), Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor), Warren Abery (Rsa), David Dixon, Andrew Marshall, Teboho Sefatsa (Rsa), Vaughn Groenewald (Rsa)
70 Brandon Pieters (Rsa), Chris Wood, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Robert Dinwiddie, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Gary Lockerbie, Sam Hutsby, Michiel Bothma (Rsa), Callum Macaulay 36-34, Dawie Van Der Walt (Rsa), Oliver Bekker (Rsa), Mark Haastrup (Den), Mark Murless (Rsa), Simon Thornton
71 Joakim Haeggman (Swe), Alex Haindl (Rsa), Alan McLean 37-31, Chris Swanepoel (Rsa), Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa), Mark Brown (Nzl), Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Jamie Elson, Theunis Spangenberg (Rsa), Grant Muller (Rsa), Justin Walters (Rsa), Benjamin Hebert (Fra), David Hewan (Rsa)
72 Patrik Sjoland (Swe), Anders Hansen (Den), Benn Barham, Nic Henning (Rsa), Kevin Stone (Rsa), Des Terblanche (Rsa), Trevor Fisher junior (Rsa), Fredrik Ohlsson (Swe), Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa), Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Phillip Price, Lee Slattery, Louis Moolman (Rsa), Stephen Gallacher 36-36, Richard Finch, Ryan Tipping (Rsa), Niall Kearney, Lindani Ndwandwe (Rsa)
73 Andrew Tampion (Aus), James Kingston (Rsa), Brett Liddle (Rsa), David Howell, Ali Tsai (Tpe), Rhys Davies, Warrick Druian (Rsa), Gary Clark, Gary Murphy, Marco Ruiz (Par), Tyrone Ferreira (Rsa), Francois Calmels (Fra), Miles Tunnicliff
74 Chris Gane, Eugen Marugi (Rsa), Andre Cruse (Rsa), Stuart Manley, Peter Lawrie, Daniel Vancsik (Arg), Byron Smith (USA), James Ruth, Sam Little
75 Divan Van Den Heever (Rsa), Keenan Davidse (Rsa), Steve Van Vuuren (Rsa)
76 Andrew Georgiou (Rsa), Rick Kulacz (Aus)
77 Anthony Michael (Rsa), Dean Lambert (Rsa), Willie Van Der Merwe (Rsa), Markus Brier (Aut)
79 Chris Williams (Rsa)
81 Muswalo Nethunzwi (Rsa)
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See story on its own page | Thursday, January 14, 2010
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