Just three of the 13 South Africans participating in the Oman Open finished Thursday’s windswept opening round under par.
Brandon Stone, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Louis de Jager were the only Saffas left sporting red numbers at Al Mouj Golf in Muscat.
Jacques Kruyswijk and Zander Lombard (17 holes) finished level.
Stone birdied his third hole of the day and kept patient to keep himself in the frame. His second and final gain of the day came at the last as he joined Bezuidenhout at two-under.
The latter did find himself at four-under par after birdies at the third and sixth were backed up with gains at 12 and 13. Unfortunately, he surrendered two late bogeys to drop back into the pack sharing 15th with his compatriot.
One behind the Saffa pair is De Jager, who needed a birdie at the last to get back under par.
Justin Harding, who started the event ranked second in the field, was left to rue a poor run-in as he dropped back-to-back shots at 14 and 15 before a double bogey to close on 74. Another South African with closing hole woes was George Coetzee, who tripled his final hole for a 75.
At the top of the pile it was Mauritius Open winner Kurt Kitayama who set the first round pace, paying little attention to the difficulties that faced the late starters. The American got off to another fast start as he fired a 66 in a round that included an eagle and four birdies to sit a shot ahead of Scotsman Scott Jamieson and Japan’s Yusaku Miyazato.
For Kitayama it was was the fourth time he had gone sub-70 for his first 18 holes in 2019, but Thursday was the first time he had held a first-round lead.
Saffa scoreboard:
