Richard Sterne birdied his final three holes to grab a share of the first round lead after an action-packed day of the Italian Open on Thursday, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Sterne played his way into a share of the lead alongside English duo Robert Rock and Laurie Canter, who fired opening 63’s early during round one.
It took Sterne, playing in the day’s fifth last grouping, to scare the early leaders as he finished with a 63 in a round that included two bogeys. The six-time European Tour winner, who started on the 10th tee, open with a par before going on a birdie run with three in a row to lay down a marker. He quickly moved to four under through six, all the while he grew in confidence.
A bogey at the 17th was a dampener but he quickly quashed fears of a slump as he went on his second three birdies in a row streak shortly after the turn. That run came to a halt with his second and final bogey of the round on the 5th – his 14th – but continued his rapid rise up the leaderboard with birdies at his 16th and 17th holes.
A closing birdie saw him match the early co-leaders mark after this third three in a row streak of the afternoon as he finished as the best-placed South African.
Two shots behind Sterne was Erik van Rooyen, who carded a 65 to sit in the group in tied fourth ― along with the likes of Thomas Pieters, Danny Willett, Ross Fisher, Rafa Cabrera Bello and Thorbjorn Olesen.
Van Rooyen, who claimed a top 20 last week at the BMW PGA, went out in 30 bolstered by an eagle on the 7th but failed to press on with a back nine that included two bogeys to limit his progress after birdies at 12th, 13th and 15th.
Of the late starters, Jacques Kruyswijk and Dylan Frittelli both began with 67’s to make it five South Africans within four of the lead. Frittelli was bogey-free on Thursday while Kruyswijk, another one of last week’s top performers, finished with an eagle and a birdie in his final three holes to undo the bogeys at the 17th, his 8th, and 2nd holes.
Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images
