Casey Jarvis made just six pars in a typically Casey Jarvis round on Thursday as he charged to a seven-under-par 65 in the first round of the Sunshine Tour’s and DP World Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Championship at a sweltering Leopard Creek.
The man who never backs down from a challenge opened his round from the 10th hole with a bogey, and he followed it with a double=bogey on the 11th. He got those strokes right back with a birdie in the par-three 12th and an eagle on the famed 13th. He birdied 15 and 18, and then promptly dropped a shot on the first after the turn. He got that back with a birdie on 11, and then made three more from five to eight, interspersed with an eagle on short par-four six.
That put him one behind the bogey-free start from former South African Open and Joburg Open champion Andy Sullivan of England, who made four birdies on each of the nines on his way the first-round lead. With Jarvis in a share of second were Alex Fitzpatrick of England and Sweden’s Marcus Kinhult.
“I got off to a tough start and then I just told myself, ‘C’mon, let’s do this now’, and I played lovely from there,” said Jarvis. “I had three twos at holes five, six and seven which is a first for me. I absolutely love this place. The golf course just suits my game and I’ve had a lot of success here as an amateur, so when I get here I just try and play the game I did back then and it seemed to work.”
Sullivan draws heavily on the memories of his first DP World Tour titles in South Africa, and took advantage of an early morning tee-time which shielded him from the worst of the heat. “It’s so important to get off to a good start at Leopard Creek because you just know it’s going to get tougher and tougher,” he said. “It generally doesn’t get easier here. So getting off to a good start is nice. It gives you that little bit of a buffer because you know you’re in for a serious grind over the next couple of days.
“I always feel comfortable here and generally play good golf. My putting was really good today and saved me a couple of times. I feel like the greens suit me, so I’ve just got to keep the long game going. I’ve been able to put a lot more practice time in this week and the swing has felt good, so it was nice to get out on the course and it felt the same.”
Former champion Brandon Stone ended the first day just three strokes off the lead, as did serial Japan Golf Tour winner Shaun Norris. They were in a share of fifth on five-under. Nikhil Rama was one further back on four-under in a share of 11th with his opening four-under-par 68, which had just a single dropped shot in it.
Defending champion Louis Oosthuizen did well to post a one-under-par 71 despite an eight on the par-five 18th. Charl Schwartzel, a four-time winner here, also opened with a 71, while Dean Burmester started his championship with a three-under-par 69.
