Big-hitting Bubba Watson set the clubhouse target, with South Africans Dean Burmester and Haydn Porteous one behind at the Shenzhen International, before darkness halted play during Thursday’s opening round.
Watson, looking to improve his best finish of a tie for eighth last year, got off to a rocky start as he made bogey on 12. He rebounded well and went on to card an opening round of 66 to take a one-shot lead from South African duo Dean Burmester and Haydn Porteous, Frenchman Gregory Bourdy and German Maximilian Kieffer. Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee then joined the bunch in second place after a back nine 33.
The two-time Masters Tournament champion made birdie on 13th, 14th and 16th to turn in 34. A birdie at the first was followed by an approach to eight feet on the par five second, setting up an eagle that catapulted him to the top of the leaderboard.
He was joined by both Burmester and Porteous at the summit, after a run of six pars – including a save after hitting the pin on the seventh – but a final gain on the ninth put him in the driving seat alone.
Porteous had a roller-coaster of a round, containing only four pars as he looks to continue improving his recent form after missing his first six cuts of the season.
The 22-year-old parred the first, but made four birdies and two bogeys in his next six holes, before a double-bogey on the ninth saw him turn in 36. Gains on the tenth, 11th and 13th were followed by a dropped shot on the 15th, but a birdie-birdie-birdie finish put him right in contention.
Countryman Burmester turned in 33, and when he picked up shots on the first and second, he was in a share of the lead with Watson. A bogey on the seventh dropped him back, but he made a closing gain on the ninth.
Dylan Frittelli was the next best South African as he finished with a 68, a round that was blemished by the closing holes on both his front and back nines. He dropped a shot at each of them to sit three behind Watson after the weather-impacted first day in China.
George Coetzee finished the day -2 with Justin Walters three worse than Coetzee’s mark, while Brandon Stone (+2 after 12), Jaco van Zyl (+4 after 14) and Darren Fichardt (+5 after 15) have their work cut out for them if they want to play on the weekend as they return to finish their rounds early on Friday morning.
