JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Thriston Lawrence shot an 8-under 64 to match the course record he set last year and took a one-shot lead at the South African Open on Thursday.
The 25-year-old South African made nine birdies and a bogey at the Blair Atholl Golf and Equestrian Estate. England’s Ross Fisher and Sweden’s Jens Fahrbring are within a shot of the lead after one round.
Lawrence said he had a lot of fun playing on the longest course (8,161 yards) used on the DP World Tour.
“I like to play full shots on the greens. It’s a long golf course, but I think it suits me,” said Lawrence, who shot a 64 on the course during a Sunshine Tour event last year.
Investec South African Open Full Field Scores
Matti Schmid, Scott Jamieson and JJ Senekal are two shots back after shooting 66s.
Tom McKibbin (67) putt a hole-in-one on the par-3 11th hole. The 19-year-old Northern Irishman, who hails from the same golf club as world number 1 Rory McIlroy, is tied for seventh.
Dan Bradbury followed up his wire-and-wire victory at the Joburg Open on Sunday with a bogey-free 68.
“(I) didn’t really make a lot of bad changes again, I just kept the momentum going, kept doing what we were doing last week,” said the 23-year-old Englishman.
The tournament is the second of three events in South Africa this month as part of the 2023 DP World Tour season.
