Zander Lombard bogeyed his first hole on Thursday, but he didn’t drop another shot on his way to an opening seven-under-par 65 in the first round of the DP World Tour’s Bahrain Championship at the Royal Golf Club in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Lombard picked up four birdies on each nine as he finished the day in a share of second place, one shot off the lead which was held by Tom Vaillant of France. Vaillant went bogey-free for his 64. In a share of second with Lombard was Joel Girrbach of Switzerland, and, one stroke further back in a share of fourth, Ockie Strydom opened with a 66 together with Spain’s Alejandro del Rey, Aaron Cockerill of Canada and Denmarks Sebatian Friederichsen.
Dylan Frittelli was a further shot back in a share of eighth on five-under par after his best start of a 2024 season which is going to be spent chasing good form again on the DP World Tour instead of the PGA Tour.
Jacques Kruyswijk carded a three-under-par 69 for a share of 26th, while Darren Fichardt was in a share of 41st on two-under. Casey Jarvis opened with a one-under 71 for a share of 69th, and Louis de Jager was on level-par in a share of 85th.
Jaco Prinsloo was on two-over, and Brandon Stone battled his way to a five-over-par 77.
