Johannes Veerman was loving life on and off the course as the new father carded an opening 65 on day one of the 2022 Magical Kenya Open presented by Absa.
The American announced in late January that he and his wife Angela had welcomed son Hans into the world but the work of caring for a newborn does not appear to have had any ill effects on Veerman's game.
He finished in the top 35 in the Rolex Series at the Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic before securing 12th place at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital, matching his result from the season-opening Joburg Open.
“My little man is really good," he said of Hans. "Someone said to me earlier in the week that they didn’t realise how selfish they were with their time until they became a dad and I thought, that couldn’t be more true.
“My days have to be so much more structured now, not only does he need me but I also want to be with him. I have a new son and it’s just amazing.”
Veerman started round one at Muthaiga Golf Club with a tap-in eagle and added five birdies before a dropped shot on the eighth moved him to six under.
“It felt great to hit two good shots to open with at the tenth, and it was basically a tap-in for eagle. I mean, it doesn’t get much better than that!" he said.
“When you get off to a start like that it jump-starts things, you get more confidence after only hitting two golf shots. I birdied my third hole and from there I was just on cruise control and just kept making birdies.
“I’m very happy. This course is very tight, I cannot stress how big these trees are. You think you can take these carry lines but you can’t because these trees are 40 yards tall. So I’m really happy with how I played and I’m really happy with six under."
Shubhankar Sharma was alongside Veerman at six under after he carded a bogey-free round to continue his good start to the season.
A tie for second at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship has helped him sit fifth in the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex and the Indian believes he has a more mature approach as he looks for a third DP World Tour win after claiming two in as many months as 2017 turned to 2018.
"My thinking has changed a lot from what I used to think two years ago," he said. "Two years ago I was younger than what I am right now and I wanted to play everything - I'd play seven weeks in a row if I had to.
"Now if I'm playing well I understand that I need to conserve my energy and I don't feel like I want to stay on the road all the time.
"A few good weeks and going back home really helps and I'm refreshed like this week, I've had a few weeks off and you can see that in the first round, it's been a good day.
"I'm really happy. I played really well, didn't drop a shot - think that was a bonus - made some good par putts and especially making that birdie on the 18th was quite satisfying."
