Dylan Frittelli started smoothly in his first round since the PGA Championship, with seven birdies and a double helping him to a five-under-par 65, one off the lead at the D+D Real Czech Masters, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Frittelli took some time off in the States – to spend time with his coach and sports psychologist – after his second Major appearance of the season, and it appears it paid dividends with his bright start in Prague on Thursday.
The 27-year-old started his round on the 10th and was quick out of the blocks, moving to -3 after five despite a par on the 12th hole. Then disaster struck when he made a double on the par 3 16th hole to undo much of his fine early work. The Lyoness Open winner bounced back with a birdie two holes later as he made the turn in -2 34.
Again, he failed to take advantage of a par-five as he opened his inward nine with a par on the first, but birdies at his 13th, 15th, and 18th holes helped to move within one of leader England’s Callum Shinkwin.
‘I played nicely today and I was really happy with my putting out there today,’ Frittelli told Compleat Golfer.
‘I gave myself some nice chances to score because my driver was nice and consistent. I hit a lot of greens and actually could’ve made a few more birdies, so I was happy.
‘The double was obviously not ideal. The green is a little different to the last time I played it three years ago, so it’s a bit of a different hole, but I pulled my 8-iron left and long and found the water. I chipped over the green, so yeah, not getting up and down and made double.
‘I was happy with how I stayed in control after that, I was still one-under for the round and I managed to make some more birdies coming in to make it a really good day.’
Tomorrow may be a different story however, with rain falling pretty heavily at the moment.
‘The South Africans are doing pretty well, and hopefully we can keep it up tomorrow. If the course isn’t flooded, that is,’ said Frittelli.
Frittelli’s 67 was one better than early leader Peter Karmis. The 36-year-old, in his first European Tour event off South African soil, moved quickly to two-under, matching Frittelli’s opening birdies. Karmis was mistake-free until the 17th – his eighth hole – and duly made a birdie two before a birdie on his 11th helped him to a share of the early lead. He had the solo lead with his fifth and final birdie of the day, but gave one shot back to the field on the 17th with a bogey five – allowing Shinkwin into top spot.
Another South African – Jaco Ahlers – joins Karmis at four-under and a share of fifth place.
Ahlers was three-under at the turn and got to -4 with a birdie at the 10th before dropping his first shot at the 11th. That did little to throw him off Shinkwin’s tail as he made two birdies in a row to keep the pace. Unfortunately, he could not stay at -5, with a late bogey dropping him into the bunch at 68 after round one.
2017 Eye of Africa PGA Championship winner Erik Van Rooyen – a Challenge Tour player this season – made a solid start in Prague as he moved to -4 after 15 holes, but made his solitary bogey late on at his 17th hole to finish with an opening 69 (T13).
There is a quartet of South Africans at two-under-par after day one, with Keith Horne, Haydn Porteous, Dean Burmester and Zander Lombard all starting well with 70s at the Albatross Golf Resort.
The remaining two South Africans in the field – Jbe Kruger and Justin Walters – are in a share of 56th place after opening with level-par 72s.
Photo: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
