Dylan Frittelli hit 12 of 18 greens in regulation on Thursday on his way to a six-under-par 66, two shots off the first-round lead of the ZOZO Championship at Sherwood in Thousand Oaks in California on the PGA Tour.
He made eight birdies and two bogeys, starting his round on the 10th and turning in two-under 34 after birdies on 10, 13, 14 and 18. He made both his bogeys ahead of the turn, on the 11th and 12th holes, but he was blemish free on his homeward nine – the front nine – with birdies on two, three, five and six.
That left him within striking distance of leader Sebastián Muñoz, who twice holed out for eagle from a combined distance of 219 yards. He also had eight birdies. Throw in a wild tee shot for double bogey, three bogeys and only five pars and it added to an eight-under 64 and a one-shot lead.
Sharing second on seven-under were the in-form duo of England’s Tyrrell Hatton and American Justin Thomas. Frittelli’s fourth place was shared with Brian Harman, Lanto Griffin, Kevin Kisner and Harris English.
After Frittelli’s pair of drops on consecutive holes so early in his round, he got things back on track immediately and chipped in his fourth shot from five yards off the green, scoring a birdie for the hole. This moved him back to even-par for the round.
The other South African in the field was Shaun Norris who was on four-under 68 after the first round in a share of 17th place in the 78-man field.
He too started on the 10th, making double bogey on his opening hole, and pulling those shots back with birdies on 11 and 18. He made four birdies in coming home bogey-free, with gains on one, two, five and nine.
