Two of South Africa’s brightest prospects – Erik van Rooyen and Justin Harding – enjoyed mixed fortunes on Thursday as the PGA Championship got under way in New York, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Van Rooyen and Harding were among the early starters at Bethpage Black, but only one entered the clubhouse on level par as the course flexed its muscles from the get-go.
Despite losing more than a stroke and a half on the field with this putter, Van Rooyen put the South African flag on the first page of the leaderboard in early play during round one. Starting on the 10th tee, he safely navigated the opening hole with a par before his first gain on the 11th after a 14-foot birdie putt found the bottom of the cup.
A missed fairway on 15 saw him drop back to level, but a monster 38-foot putt on the next saw him back into red numbers.
Van Rooyen’s back nine was a lot more turbulent, with his birdie at 1 undone by a bogey, double bogey run through his next two holes.
His 70-yard approach to the par-5 fourth set up another birdie before moving under par once again with a five-foot putt on the sixth.
Van Rooyen’s scorecard may read a solid 70, four strokes ahead of countryman Harding, but he will be bitterly disappointed with a three-putt bogey on the last that saw him surrender his hard-fought gains.
A top 10 last week and a T12 finish at the Masters had created expectations of another headline-making week for Harding, a one-time European Tour winner, but instead he now has a mighty battle on his hands if he is to tee it up this weekend.
Harding hit just 61% of greens in regulation on Thursday as his scorecard bore the brunt of the demanding layout.
Richard Sterne opened with a 75, matching Harding with two birdies on his card, but far too many mistakes.
Photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
