Danie van Niekerk fired an eight-under-par 64 on Tuesday at Benoni Country Club to lead 10 Sunshine Tour qualifiers into the Joburg Open which takes place at Houghton Golf Club later this week.
Van Niekerk made just a single bogey in his round. That came on the third hole, which was during his homeward nine after he teed off on the 10th. He had already raced through his front nine in five-under-par 31, and, while the bogey was hardly welcome, it made very little difference to his dominance as he made four more birdies to finish three strokes clear of his nearest challengers.
Four players finished on five-under-par 67. They were Dayne Moore of Zambia, Luke Jerling, Michael Hollick and Vaughn van Deventer. Richard Joubert and rookie Kyle de Beer carded four-under 68s, while Jason Roets, Kyle McClatchie and DK Kim of Korea took up the final three places amongst the qualifiers at three-under-par. They edged out Reinhardt Blaauw, who also had three-under, in a play-off.
The Joburg Open marks the start of the 2024 DP World Tour season, and is, as usual, co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour.
