It was long, hard slog for six of the eight South Africans at Bethpage Black with the weekend now looking suspiciously short of local hope, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
The pre-round talk of the daunting, nefarious nature of the New York track – twice a US Open venue – rang true on Thursday. Despite relatively calm wind conditions, scoring remained difficult with the grown out rough collecting any wayward drives.
Erik van Rooyen and Louis Oosthuizen were among the early starters and both hovered around the level mark. The latter, more established at this level relied on a strong putter to end the day even; a closing birdie from short-range helping him into the clubhouse.
Van Rooyen, though was one under par for much of his round but a closing three-putt saw him drop into the pack sharing 17th after a 70.
That’s where the highlights end though for the Saffas.
Shaun Norris had five front side bogeys but managed to finish with a 73. He was joined by Branden Grace, who saw his FIR and GIR stats hovering in the 60s. An accomplished player at the highest level, Grace is still without a Major and despite a double on his starting hole he worked his way back to par.
Bogeys at 14 and 15 saw him turn at two over and further drops at 7 and 9 halted any progress back to leveling things up. Grace will be concerned by his allround game on the demanding course as he lost two full shots in the putting stats.
It didn’t get any better for the man who replaced Grace as SA’s No 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Justin Harding (74).
Richard Sterne’s runner-up finish in Abu Dhabi seems like forever ago as he slumped to a 75. He was, though, two better than Dylan Frittelli with Brandon Stone in with a 79.
A short Major week looks like the order of the day for the majority of the Saffas as the wait for another winner at this event continues past 47 years.
First round leaderboard:
63 – Brooks Koepka (USA)
64 – Danny Lee (NZL)
67 – Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)
68 – Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA), Chez Reavie (USA), Luke List (USA), Kang Sung (KOR), Pat Perez (USA)
69 – Rickie Fowler (USA), Matt Wallace (ENG), Dustin Johnson (USA), Jordan Spieth (USA), Patrick Cantlay (USA), Phil Mickelson (USA), Jason Day (AUS), Kim Si-woo (KOR)
70 – Sam Burns (USA), Jason Caron (USA), Patton Kizzire (USA), Max Homa (USA), David Lipsky (USA), Jimmy Walker (USA), Erik Van Rooyen (RSA), Graeme McDowell (NIR), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Justin Rose (ENG), Xander Schauffele (USA), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), Aaron Wise (USA), Ryan Vermeer (USA), Joel Dahmen (USA), Daniel Berger (USA), Paul Casey (ENG), Tony Finau (USA), Billy Horschel (USA), Gary Woodland (USA), Keegan Bradley (USA), Jon Rahm (ESP), Matt Kuchar (USA), Jazz Janewattananond (THA)
71 – Harold Varner (USA), Kyle Stanley (USA), Kelly Kraft (USA), Adam Scott (AUS), Tyrrell Hatton (ENG), Im Sung-jai (KOR), J.B. Holmes (USA), Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN), Danny Willett (ENG), Zach Johnson (USA)
72 – Beau Hossler (USA), J.J. Spaun (USA), Scott Piercy (USA), Richy Werenski (USA), Adam Hadwin (CAN), Russell Knox (SCO), Charles Howell (USA), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Tiger Woods (USA), Julian Suri (USA), Marty Jertson (USA), Troy Merritt (USA), Joost Luiten (NED), Cameron Champ (USA), Lucas Glover (USA), Ian Poulter (ENG), Kevin Na (USA), Bryson DeChambeau (USA), Webb Simpson (USA), Rory McIlroy (NIR), Corey Conners (CAN), Chesson Hadley (USA), Tyler Hall (USA)
73 – Li Haotong (CHN), Charley Hoffman (USA), Shaun Norris (RSA), Alex Noren (SWE), Abraham Ancer (MEX), Adam Long (USA), Adrian Otaegui (ESP), Jason Kokrak (USA), Branden Grace (RSA), Ryan Moore (USA), Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN), Steve Stricker (USA), Satoshi Kodaira (JPN), Kevin Tway (USA), Bronson Burgoon (USA), Cameron Smith (AUS), Jim Furyk (USA)
74 – Keith Mitchell (USA), Ben Cook (USA), An Byeong-hun (KOR), Andrew Putnam (USA), Justin Harding (RSA), Thomas Pieters (BEL), Brandt Snedeker (USA), Henrik Stenson (SWE), Sergio Garcia (ESP), Patrick Reed (USA), Shugo Imahira (JPN), Lucas Herbert (AUS), Cory Schneider (USA), Brian Mackey (USA), Ross Fisher (ENG), Martin Kaymer (GER), Ryan Armour (USA), Marc Leishman (AUS), Michael Kim (USA), Kurt Kitayama (USA), Mikko Korhonen (FIN)
75 – Rob Labritz (USA), Richard Sterne (RSA), Shane Lowry (IRL), Lee Westwood (ENG), Martin Trainer (USA), Joaquin Niemann (CHI), Rich Beem (USA), John Daly (USA), Matt Fitzpatrick (ENG), Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP), Padraig Harrington (IRL)
76 – Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA), Jason Dufner (USA), Bubba Watson (USA), Eddie Pepperell (ENG), Yang Yong-eun (KOR), Rich Berberian (USA), Emiliano Grillo (ARG), Tom Lewis (ENG), Jhonattan Vegas (VEN)
77 – J.T. Poston (USA), Casey Russell (USA), Michael Thompson (USA), Rod Perry (USA), Ryan Palmer (USA), Justin Bertsch (USA), Brian Harman (USA), Shaun Micheel (USA), Alex Beach (USA), Kevin Kisner (USA), Jorge Campillo (ESP), Dylan Frittelli (RSA)
78 – Brendan Jones (AUS), Ryan Fox (NZL), Craig Bowden (USA) 78, Pan C.T. (TPE), Danny Balin (USA)
79 – John O’Leary (USA), Brandon Stone (RSA)
80 Alex Bjork (SWE)
81 – Jeffrey Schmid (USA)
82 – Stuart Deane (AUS), Craig Hocknull (AUS)
84 – Andrew Filbert (USA)
WD – Brian Gay (USA) 81
Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
