Belgium’s Thomas Pieters narrowly missed out on matching the Royal Johannesburg & Kensington West Course record, but still enjoyed a share of the clubhouse lead on day one of the Joburg Open.
The 23 year old, who has already had two top-ten finishes in 2015 to climb to 26th on The Race to Dubai, had five birdies in an outward 31.
Further gains at the tenth and 12th were followed by an eagle from 20 feet at the long 15th, and at that stage Pieters needed three birdies in his last three holes for The European Tour’s first 59.
However, he dropped a shot at the next and, although a birdie at the 17th gave him a chance of bettering Desvonde Botes’ course record 62, a poor chip at the last led to another bogey and an eight under par 63.
That was matched by South African Titch Moore, who had six birdies and a hole-in-one at the short fifth.
“It was a good day and a good start,” said Pieters, who was beaten in play-off for last year’s Open de España by Miguel Angel Jiménez.
You need to make a good score on this course, so I’m happy and hopefully we’ll have more of the same tomorrow.
“It’s very possible to go low on the East. The par fives are very reachable for me, so I’m going to take advantage of those.
“This season I gave myself a great chance in Abu Dhabi. I also had a top-ten at Leopard Creek, but I wasn’t really in contention. In the Middle East I played well, but had one bad round in there. If I can play four solid rounds then hopefully a win will come soon.”
The bumper 210-man field is split between the West and East courses for the first two rounds before descending on the more difficult East track for the weekend, and it was no surprise that most of those on the leaderboard were tackling the West first.
Another South African, Dean Burmester, was third on seven under following a 64, with Joachim B Hansen, Scott Henry and Byeong-hun An all round in 65.
England’s Sam Hutsby and South African Wallie Coetsee posted the best scores from the East course – both signing for six under par rounds of 66 to sit in a share of third.
“I think it’s a good draw to make a decent score on this course to try to settle in,” said Challenge Tour graduate Hutsby.
“I’ve missed my last six cuts so I’ve been really poor this year, but I’m pretty confident I can make the weekend now and try to push on.”
Newly-appointed Ryder Cup Captain Darren Clarke was tackling the East course first, signing for a level par 72.
