Swede Joakim Lagergren opened with a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 to lead South Africa’s Casey Jarvis by a single stroke after the first round of the Investec South African Open at the Blair Atholl Golf & Equestrian Estate on Thursday.
“Golf was fun today. I really enjoyed it. I feel like I got the most out of it,” said Lagergren after walking off what is officially the longest golf course in DP World Tour history.
“One of the par threes played 240 metres today – that might be one of the longest I’ve ever played. As for the rest of the course, the fairways are firm if you’re hitting good drives. But it’s rare that you’re standing with a wedge in your hands on a par four here. It’s long.”
As his nearest challenger Jarvis, who won the Freddie Tait Cup as the leading amateur in this championship in 2020, said patience played a key role in his opening round.
“I don’t hit the ball as far as some of the others out here so it is physically and mentally challenging and you need to just stay patient. I managed my game well.”
The trio of South Africa’s Jovan Rebula and Louis de Jager as well as 2015 Investec South African Open champion Andy Sullivan of England all signed for rounds of five-under-par 67.
At just one shot off the lead, Jarvis is well aware of the expectation on him to follow a stellar amateur career in which he put his name on all the major South African trophies by adding his name to the Investec South African Open trophy as a professional.
“I’d like to win this as a professional but I’m taking it one day at a time and seeing where it goes. I’m not putting pressure on myself. My expectations are always high but if I don’t put pressure on myself I play a lot better, and I feel like I’ve managed that really well this year.”
Christiaan Bezuidenhout, the winner of the Investec South African Open in December 2020, made a strong start with his round of four-under-par 68.
Altin van der Merwe and Daniel Bennett came through the first day as the leading amateurs after both signing for rounds of level-par 72, while world number one amateur Christo Lamprecht carded a 76.
Scores:
65 – Joakim Lagergren
66 – Casey Jarvis
67 – Jovan Rebula, Louis de Jager, Andy Sullivan
68 – Matteo Manassero, Combrinck Smit, Jesper Svensson, David Ravetto, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, JC Ritchie, Hennie du Plessis, Heinrich Bruiners, Matthias Schwab, Will Enefer
69 – Darius van Driel, Kalle Samooja, Sebastian Friedrichsen, Romain Langasque, Francesco Laporta, Frederic Lacroix, Ugo Coussaud, Deon Germishuys, Louis Albertse, Renato Paratore, Jacques P de Villiers
70 – Andrea Pavan, Kristian Krogh Johannessen, Scott Jamieson, Sean Bradley, Thriston Lawrence, Dean Burmester, Jayden Schaper, Darren Fichardt, Matti Schmid, Jaco Ahlers, Alejandro Del Rey, Jack Davidson, Lyle Rowe
71 – Dan Erickson, Dan Bradbury, Neil Schietekat, Benjamin Follett-Smith, Ross Fisher, James Morrison, Kyle Barker, Johannes Veerman, Espen Kofstad, Adrien Saddier, Bradley Bawden, Zander Lombard, Ethan Smith, Danie Van Niekerk, Daniel van Tonder, Oliver Bekker, Thomas Aiken, Jaco Van Zyl, Tristen Strydom, Wynand Dingle, Jake Redman
72 – Rupert Kaminski, Wilco Nienaber, Charl Schwartzel, Dylan Naidoo, Matthew Southgate, Jacques Kruyswijk, Rourke van der Spuy, Aaron Cockerill, Robin Williams, Gavin Green, Daniel Bennett, Altin van der Merwe, Lorenzo Scalise, Dylan Frittelli, Ruan Korb, Anton Karlsson, Ryan Van Velzen, Martin Rohwer, Marcel Schneider, Jeong Weon Ko, David Law, Anthony Michael, Filippo Celli, Hunter Epson
73 – Nikhil Rama, Christiaan Maas, Jean Hugo, Chase Hanna, Benjamin Rusch, Luca Filippi, MJ Viljoen, Manuel Elvira, Max Rottluff, Oliver Wilson, Hennie Otto, Shubhankar Sharma, Pieter Moolman
74 – Freddy Schott, Hennie O’Kennedy, Dale Whitnell, Clement Sordet, Keelan van Wyk, LB Boshoff, Aneurin Gounden, Martin Couvra, Martin Vorster, Dylan Mostert, Ashun Wu, Sam Bairstow, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Thabang Simon
75 – Keenan Davidse, Trevor Fisher Jnr, Nick Bachem, Albert Venter, Peter Karmis, Gerhard Pepler, Brandon Stone, Marco Penge, Stefan Wears-Taylor, Joel Girrbach, Santiago Tarrio, Malcolm Mitchell, Alexander Knappe, Matthis Besard
76 – Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez, Joachim B. Hansen, Keagan Crosbie, David Rowland Montague Amm, Christo Lamprecht, Edoardo Molinari, Stuart Manley, Ivan Cantero, Samuel Simpson, Yurav Premlall
77 – Andrew Johnston, Toto Thimba Jnr, Jacques Blaauw, Shaun Norris, Ewen Ferguson, Jaco Prinsloo, Stephen Gallacher, Mateusz Gradecki, Adam Blomme
78 – Robson Chinhoi, Matthew Spacey, Ivan Verster, Keagan Thomas
79 – James Hart du Preez, Christiaan Basson, Henning du Plooy
80 – Tristin Galant, Jordan Burnand
81 – Merrick Bremner
83 – Slenda Sithebe
RTD – Daniel Brown
Tickets for the Investec South African Open Championship can be purchased at www.sunshinetour.com.
