Jaco van Zyl shot a five-under-par 67 on Thursday to sit in third place on his own after his first round at the BMW PGA Championship. Scott Hend and Y.E. Yang were at the top after both fired rounds of 65 on the Wentworth Club layout.
The South African opened with a disappointing bogey on the first, followed by two pars. His round then ignited on the fourth, where he began a run of four consecutive birdies. Two further pars allowed the 37-year-old to make the turn in three-under-par.
His back nine yielded two birdies, and the world number 59 never dropped a shot on the home stretch. He will take confidence into the second round after his run of 17 holes without a dropped shot.
Australian Scott Hend fired an opening round of 65 to sit alongside Y.E. Yang at the top. The Queenslander started in blistering fashion, birdieing four holes in his front nine without dropping a shot.
The 43-year-old’s back nine looked to be heading the same way when he picked up shots at the 10th, 12th and 13th. His round did eventually hit a speed bump as he dropped a shot at the 15th. He then responded by sinking a birdie at the next hole before ending his round with two solid pars.
Yang, the 2009 US PGA champion, opened just like Van Zyl did, by bogeying the first, however his next 17 holes were extremely productive. The three-time European Tour winner had a run of four birdies in five holes on the front nine before he collected back-to-back birdies twice on the back nine to sign for his round of 65.
