South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen made a bright start on a day of low scoring at the Volvo China Open at Genzon Golf Club, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Jorge Campillo, David Lipsky and Tapio Pulkkanen will share a one-shot lead heading into day two after firing rounds of 65 on Thursday in Shenzhen.
It’s a case of maintained momentum for the trio, with Campillo winning, Lipsky finishing top five and Pulkkanen top ten in Morocco last week. Wu Ashun, Jin Daxing and John Catlin lead the chasing pack, and there are 68 players within five shots of the lead.
Home favourite Haotong Li opened with a 67.
Of that 68, only three are South Africans, with Haydn Porteous, Jacques Kruyswijk and Dean Burmester joining Van Rooyen in the bunch chasing the leaders.
Van Rooyen, the 54-hole leader last week, was bogey-free on Thursday as he lived up to his billing as one of the top players in the field. He may have birdied just one of the four par-5s, but by combining a flawless round with birdies at 11, 15 and 18 to go with his four at the ninth, the Cape Town-born golfer was able to move into a share of 15th.
Battle-hardended no doubt after last week, Van Rooyen is out in the afternoon field on Friday as he looks to lay down a marker in his pursuit of a first European Tour win.
One shot further back is Porteous, who finished in the rapidly fading light. The 2016 Joburg Open winner opened with a 69 that included two drops and four birdies between holes 11 and 17.
Burmester, who like Porteous, missed the cut here last year – was joined at -2 by Kruyswijk. The former had just a single bogey on his card but also left two par-5s without adding to his score.
Kruyswijk is looking to solidify his start that saw him surrender some excellent early play as he aims to break a streak of three missed cuts in a row on this tour. The Centurion golfer was -6 through 11 holes before a triple-bogey on the par-5 13th forced him to hand back half of his advantage.
A bogey on 15 will leave him frustrated as he had to settle for a share of 46th place.
Shaun Norris settled for a 71.
