South Africa’s Justin Walters made light work of the back nine of the East Course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club to share the lead after round one of Open Championship International Final Qualifying Africa.
Walters shares the lead with the Netherlands’ Floris de Vries, and the pair are five shots ahead of the rest of the field heading into the second and final round.
After making eight pars and an eagle on the front nine, Walters dropped back to one under par with a bogey on the par three 12th hole. From there he rallied, however, coming home with four straight birdies from the 13th, before a six-iron to 15-feet on the par-five last provided him with his second eagle of the day and a seven-under-par total of 64.
It was a welcome turnaround for Walters, who failed to make the cut at last week’s Joburg Open, held on the East and West courses at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington.
“It was playing long today,” he said. “If you keep it in the fairway then it’s not too bad but otherwise it’s very long, but I guess that’s its only defence today. Last week, I kept playing conservatively and taking three-wood off the tee short of the bunker on the 18th, but today I was feeling it and I hit a great drive which allowed me to hit a six iron in to 15 feet. I had a good read from my caddie and it went in, so it was a great way to finish.”
De Vries started quickly en route to his round of 64, with five birdies over the first nine holes. Three more birdies and a bogey consolidated his position at the top of the leaderboard. Unlike Walters, De Vries flourished last week, finishing tied 13th at the Joburg Open.
Martin Maritz of South Africa and England’s Andrew Marshall were tied for third on two under par, with five more players another shot back on one under par.
Thirty-six players are contesting the 36 hole qualifying tournament, with the top three at the end of the two rounds earning a place in The 140th Open Championship at Royal St George’s from July 13-17.
