Erik van Rooyen stormed out of the blocks and held on to his strong start despite three bogeys on his inward nine during the opening round of the Open de Espana.
With as many as 11 South Africans in the field, it was Van Rooyen to head the list on Thursday after a 67, good enough for a share of third and just one behind Scotland’s Marc Warren.
The Challenge Tour graduate started on the 10th hole with a par five and quickly found himself in the mix on a packed leaderboard by playing his next five holes in -5 with an eagle on the par-four 13th capping off his good work. A bogey at the 17th saw his rapid progress halted as he turned in 32.
His second eagle of the day, a 3 at the 1st, turned out to be more about stabilizing his round rather than pulling clear of the field as he dropped shots at the 3rd and 4th holes. Van Rooyen got both of those strokes backed in quick time as he birdied his next two holes. Again, he dropped back into the pack that includes top-ranked Jon Rahm, looking to win on home soil as a professional for the first time, after a bogey five on the 8th before closing with a rare par on his inward nine for a 67.
Next best is Richard Sterne whose round couldn’t have been more different than his countryman as he was bogey-free on Thursday en route to a solid 68 and a share of 10th. Trevor Fisher Jr was at the same tally as Sterne with only the par-three 9th to play.
Jacques Kruyswijk, who earned his European Tour card through the gruelling Q-School, flexed his muscles early on to head the South African charge before a string of bogeys dropped him from -6 to -3 in his final three holes.
He is joined on that mark by another Q-School qualifier Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who bounced back from a slow start to sit inside the top 20 through 18 holes. Bezuidenhout was +2 through 8 but then made five birdies in the same span as his opening run to move past the field consistently and join Kruyswijk with a 69.
Brandon Stone bogeyed his final two holes for a 71, the same mark as Darren Fichardt with Zander Lombard and George Coetzee even for Thursday’s work.
It was a day of what might’ve been for Coetzee, who dropped four shots in his closing seven holes, to slide down the leaderboard and will now have to play without error if he’s to make the cut tomorrow.
Still to complete his round, Dean Burmester was +1 through 12 with Thomas Aiken needing something special in round two as he sits on +3 with one hole to play.
Photo: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
