Ockie Strydom relished the feeling of playing in familiar conditions on a course he knows well on Thursday as he tucked himself into second place on the leaderboard after the first round of the DP World Tour’s Nedbank Golf Challenge at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City.
Strydom made an eagle and four birdies, but dropped a shot on the par-four 15th. That came immediately after his eagle on the 14th, which was a little deflating, but his five-under-par 67 was just one stroke behind defending champion Max Homa of the United States.
“It’s good to be back home,” said Strydom. “I love it here. I know the golf course and it’s looking great. This is Africa’s Major. All the South Africans dream of playing here, so just to be here is something special.”
Strydom was particularly impressive on the par-fives, highlighted by his eagle on the 14th where he chipped in from eight yards just short of the green.
“You have to score on the par-fives here. The par-fours and par-threes are tricky, so to be minus four on the par-fives is decent. But overall, I’ve been struggling with injuries so to be pain-free and out there competing again is very pleasant.”
American Ryder Cup star Homa is back in South Africa to defend the title he won in memorable fashion on his tournament debut last November. And it did not take him long to rediscover the fine form that helped him earn that four-shot win, as he made a blistering start on Thursday, kicking off the week with three straight birdies.
Homa made three more gains to storm to the top of the leaderboard before a sticky patch on the back nine saw him surrender two bogeys. But he bounced back in style, finishing his round with back-to-back birdies to sign for an opening 66, reach six under par and overtake early clubhouse leader Strydom at the summit.
“I haven’t played a tournament in a while and I’ve been working on a lot of new things so it felt really good to come out and birdie the first three holes. I felt really comfortable with the golf swing. As far as first rounds defending my title go, it’s definitely one I’ll remember,” said Homa.
A day of intense heat and the traditionally fickle winds on the golf course tested the 66-man field on day one.
“It was really tricky with the wind. It threw us for a bit of a loop but I thought I did a really good job of adjusting to it. Overall I did a good job of playing within myself and not hitting shots I don’t really love to hit. You come to a golf course like this where you cannot fake it off the tee. You have to hit good tee shots here.
“I was a little sloppy on the back nine but I still liked the way I was swinging it. I’m very happy with the last two holes because those are two difficult holes so to make birdie there was great. There’s a long way to go but it’s really cool to see some more good golf here.”
Robin Williams had a memorable start in his first taste of the really big league, carding a two-under-par 70 for a share of seventh place. He overcame a double-bogey five on the fourth when he hot his tee shot in the water, but he had made a birdie on two, and then he did the right thing by making birdie on the other three par-fives. He was in a five-way share of seventh with, amongst others, his more experienced compatriot, Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
Thriston Lawrence battled his way back from three bogeys in the first seven holes to card one-under 71 for a share of 12th.
Aldrich Potgieter was on one-over, Brandon Stone on two-over, Erik van Rooyen on three-over, Dylan Frittelli on four-over, while Ryan van Velzen battled and brought up the rear of the 66-man field with a seven-over-par 79.
