South Africa’s Justin Walters delivered a golfing masterclass and is the first-round leader at the UK Championship after an 8-under-par 64 on Thursday.
Despite a rain-affected day at the Belfry Resort that saw most of the afternoon session suspended due to heavy rain and a flooded course, Walters was able to surge to summit of the leaderboard before play was interrupted.
The 39-year-old produced a bogey-free display, which included six birdies and an excellent chip-in for eagle on the par-3, 15th that saw him open up a three-stroke gap between himself and the players in T2.
Leads by 2 @jwaltersgolf ?#ISPSHANDAUKChampionship
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) August 27, 2020
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They are Sweden’s Joel Sjoholm, Frenchman Benjamin Herbert, Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger and Zimbabwe’s Vincent Scott, who all completed their rounds on 5 under par after respective rounds of 67.
The talented Wilco Nienaber also made an emphatic start to his week after quickly moving to 3 under par through five holes before play got originally interrupted.
Nienaber, who has been in excellent form in recent weeks on the European Tour, would’ve hoped to rather stay on the course, given how smooth he looked and the momentum he start his round with.
Dean Burmester also made a decent start with an opening-round 70 on Thursday, which meant he finished the day early on 2 under par and will also be bargaining on his recent showings to deliver a good performance over the weekend.
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Fellow South Africans Jacques Kruyswijk and Garrick Higgo sit alongside Burmester in T20 after they stormed to 2 under par through four holes before play was abruptly suspended.
Friday’s action from the UK Championship will start at 8:00am (SA time) to complete the full second round and will be live on SuperSport.
