THAT MAN FICHARDT AGAIN LEADS IN TSHWANE OPEN

FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Pretoria native Darren Fichardt is once again handily placed at the top of the leaderboard after an opening round of seven under par 65 gave him a one stroke lead at the Tshwane Open.

This comes less than a fortnight after he won the Africa Open, and thanks to eight birdies and a solitary bogey today, he leads the way on home soil once more.

“I always play well at the beginning of the year,” explained the South African. “All of my European wins besides France (2012 Open de Saint Omer) have been early in the year. Sao Paolo in Brazil (2001) was in February, and then I won in Qatar (2003) in February and this year the Africa Open, which was in February, so it’s a good month for me!

 “It’s funny, because I birdied all of the tough holes and then the easiest hole on the golf course I bogeyed – that’s how this game is.”

Björn Åkesson had challenged his advantage at the top of the leaderboard late on Thursday after a birdie-birdie-eagle run from the 13^th saw him draw level, but a bogey at the 17^th left him with a six under par 66.

Six players are another shot back at five under including Englishman David Howell, while it was also a productive day for 2011 Open Champion Darren Clarke, who signed for a 69.

First Round Scores:

65 D Fichardt (RSA) ,

 66 B Åkesson (Swe) ,

 67 D Howell (Eng) , J Hugo  (RSA) , J Singh (Ind) , M Tullo (Chi) , C Coetzee  (RSA) , G Lockerbie  (Eng) ,

 68 M Korhonen (Fin) , S Wakefield (Eng) , J Ahlers (RSA) , D Willett  (Eng) , K Horne (RSA) , J Sjöholm (Swe) , D Horsey (Eng) , V Groenewald (RSA) , D Burmester (RSA) , S Smith (RSA) , D McGrane (Irl) , M Bremner (RSA) , P Uihlein  (USA) , D Van Der Walt (RSA) , J Harding  (RSA) , S Arnold  (Aus) ,

 69 D Van Den Heever (RSA) , A Da Silva (Bra) , C Nel (RSA) , D Clarke (Nir) , G Mulroy (RSA) , J Roos (RSA) , D Botes (RSA) , R De Smidt (RSA) , M Williams (RSA) , J Campillo (Esp) , J Luiten (Ned) , J Kamte (RSA) ,

 70 J Kingston (RSA) , G Van Der Merwe (RSA) , T Maseko (RSA) , M Nixon (Eng) , A Snobeck  (Fra) , R Wattel  (Fra) , M Madsen  (Den) , J Blaauw  (RSA) , R Cairns (Zim) , M Baldwin (Eng) , S Kjeldsen (Den) , G Storm  (Eng) , G Muller (RSA) , O Fisher  (Eng) , E Pepperell (Eng) , A Pistorius (RSA) , J Busby (Eng) , R Finch  (Eng) , M Warren (Sco) , A Haindl (RSA) , C Basson (RSA) ,

 71 M Lampert (Ger) , M Southgate  (Eng) , M Wiegele  (Aut) , D Frittelli (RSA) , L De Jager  (RSA) , M Carvell (RSA) , C Lloyd (Eng) , T Van Der Walt (RSA) , J Walters (RSA) , R Rock (Eng) , P Erofejeff (Fin) , A Sullivan (Eng) , S Webster (Eng) , P Whiteford (Sco) , L Ndwandwe (RSA) , J Kruger (RSA) , M Delpodio  (Ita) , T Fisher Jnr (RSA) , C Paisley  (Eng) , D McGuigan (RSA) , O Bekker (RSA) , H Otto (RSA) ,

 72 T Baumann (Ger) , M Campbell (Nzl) , K Broberg (Swe) , S Henry  (Sco) , L Rowe  (RSA) , P Karmis  (RSA) , C Del Moral (Esp) , T Ferreira  (RSA) , O Strydom (RSA) , P Larrazábal (Esp) , G Stal  (Fra) , D Greene (RSA) , N Fasth (Swe) , E Kofstad (Nor) , D Gaunt (Aus) , F Andersson Hed (Swe) , H Buhrmann (RSA) , M Kieffer (Ger) , C Swanepoel (RSA) , E Molinari  (Ita) ,

 73 A Curlewis (RSA) , C Doak (Sco) , D Drysdale (Sco) , J Lara (Esp) , R McGowan  (Eng) , O Floren  (Swe) , R McEvoy  (Eng) , T Sefatsa (RSA) , E Goya (Arg) , D Van Tonder  (RSA) , L Jensen (Den) , W Abery (RSA) , T Lewis (Eng) , S Norris  (RSA) , P Lawrie (Irl) , M Jonzon (Swe) , B Easton (RSA) , A Versfeld (RSA) , T Spangenberg (RSA) ,

 74 D Higgins (Irl) , L Canter (RSA) , A Georgiou (RSA) , B Pieters (RSA) , M Hollick (RSA) , K Davidse (RSA) , J Quesne  (Fra) , B Smith (RSA) , A Michell (RSA) , P Waring  (Eng) ,

 75 S Little (Eng) , A Levy (Fra) , M Hoey  (Nir) , J Lagergren (Swe) , U Van Den Berg  (RSA) , N Schietekat (RSA) , J Van Zyl (RSA) , T Aiken (RSA) , T Moore (RSA) , P McIntyre (RSA) , D Hewan (RSA) ,

 76 J Parry (Eng) , M Lundberg (Swe) , J Van Tonder (RSA) , B Vaughan (RSA) , M Carlsson  (Swe) , A Kaleka  (Fra) , W Coetsee (RSA) , J Olazábal (Esp) ,

 77 K Dube (RSA) , S Dyson  (Eng) , E De La Riva  (Esp) , M Bothma (RSA) , I Hutchings (RSA) , T Thimba Jnr (RSA) , C Macaulay  (Sco) ,

 80 J Claassen  (RSA) , T Chabangu (RSA)