Louis de Jager made a steady and patient start to the Cyprus Showdown on Thursday by shooting an opening-round 68.
The 32-year-old finished the day on three under par and as the highest-placed South African in the field in what is the second event in as many weeks at the Aphrodite Hills Golf Course.
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De Jager made six birdies and three bogeys across his 18 holes that left him three shots off the early pace, which is being set by Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, who delivered a brilliant six-under 65 on Thursday.
MacIntyre is, however, closely followed by a whole host of golfers, who are all a further stroke behind on five under with Joakim Lagergren, Ashun Wu, Rikard Karlberg, Sami Valimaki, Thomas Detry, Jamie Donaldson and Romain Langasque all in T2 heading into Friday’s action.
Haydn Porteous managed to finish his opening round in the red thanks to a brilliant eagle on the par-five 18th hole, ending the day on one under par for the event and in T42, alongside Wilco Nienaber, who also had somewhat of an up-and-down day to start the week with.
Zander Lombard shot a one-over-par 72 for his opening round on Thursday, while Garrick Higgo, who finished last week’s Cyprus Open in T3, will have a lot of work to do on Friday after an opening-round 75.
