Only one of the four South Africans at the RBC Heritage Harbour Town Golf Links managed to end Thursday’s first round under par.
Branden Grace, off a quiet week at The Masters, had a relatively quiet day at Hilton Head with two birdies and a bogey coming on his front nine before nine straight pars to close.
His one-under-par 70 leaves him five off the pace set by Ireland’s Shane Lowry.
Grace opened with a par and then stroked home a nine-foot putt on the second to move under par. A three-putt on the par 3 fourth saw him drop back to level. A run of pars was broken at the ninth when Grace’s 93-yard approach left him with just four feet as he set himself up for his second and final birdie of the round.
Ernie Els, fresh off his latest endorsement deal, carded a one-over-par 73 on a day where he hit just 10 of 18 greens in regulation. The Big Easy book-ended his opening nine with bogeys as he turned level after birdies at his fourth and sixth holes, with putts from 8 and 11 feet respectively.
Els then moved to under par for the round on his 11th hole, but slipped with two bogeys coming home to share 77th place.
He was two shots better than out-of-form Charl Schwartzel – who suffered with a driving accuracy of just 35% – and SA’s best last week, Justin Harding.
Harding, who missed the cut at the Valero Texas Open, will need a low round if he is to advance from 111th in the field. It was a case of a cold short game as he hit 14 of 18 greens, but ended the day -2.36 in the strokes gained putting department.
With Lowry in front alone, the chasing pack includes Ryan Palmer, Luke List, Daniel Berger, Trey Mullinax, and Ryan Moore at 5-under.
Rory Sabbatini, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel, Scott Piercy, Kevin Na, Peter Malnati, and Alex Noren are tied for 7th at 4-under.
Photo: David Cannon/Getty Images
