Christiaan Bezuidenhout hit the ground running at the Arnold Palmer Invitational when he opened his weekend’s account with a solid 4 under par 68 on Thursday, writes ANDRE HUISAMEN.
The 25-year-old is one of three South Africans competing at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge this week and will be fairly satisfied with the start he made to the competition.
Bezuidenhout’s first round has left him three shots behind the leader Matt Every, who shot a brilliant 7 under par 65, while World No1 Rory McIlory is only a shot behind in the American in second place.
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But, five birdies and only one drop shot, would’ve given Bezuidenhout a great deal of confidence to keep ticking away in Friday’s second round and to be in contention after the cut.
One player, who is in danger of missing the cut after the second round, is Charl Schwartzel, who went three over par for his opening round in Florida.
The South African has been in excellent form on the PGA Tour in recent weeks and would’ve been hoping on a much better first round than that.
Five bogeys and only two birdies over the first 18 holes have left him in T98 heading into the start of play on Friday, meaning a great deal of catchup will need to be done in order to avoid the cut.
Dylan Frittelli on the other hand also made quite a decent and solid start to his campaign by opening with a 1 under par 71 in the first round.
The 29-year-old has been struggling to find some consistency this year and will definitely be bargaining on a similar showing in the second round to make his first cut on tour in 2020.
Photo: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
