Schwartzel gets angry – & gets the lead
They both dropped two shots, but Schwartzel’s came at one hole – the picturesque par-five ninth. As it was for much of the front nine, he was in trouble off the tee and he only managed to put his second into the semi-rough. The Masters champions’ decision to go for the green with his third shot looked foolhardy and so it proved as he plonked the ball into the water guarding the putting surface.
Westwood, in contrast, bogeyed the first hole and the par-three 12th, but eagled the ninth, so they were four shots apart on just that one hole. The Englishman hit driver and then five-iron to six feet for an easy-as-you-like eagle and proceeded through the rest of his round in similarly unruffled fashion.
Schwartzel, meanwhile, discovered some consistency off the tee on the back nine and his iron play was superb as he made beelines for the flags. His short game was also on song, and it needed to be, as he sunk good putts for birdie on the 12th, 13th, 14th and 16th holes, while his excellent chip out of the greenside bunker on 17 saved his par just after he had gained the lead.
‘Fearless’
“I got cross! I probably became fearless. Turning on one-over, I was not too happy with myself, I felt that I was playing better than that and sometimes that’s what you need to spur you on. I started releasing the club properly and was just firing at the flags,” Schwartzel said.
Robert Karlsson was in third place, a stroke behind, and a bogey five on the par-four 17th was a blow to his hopes of leading. It was a disappointing level-par back nine for the long-hitting Swede, who had gone out in 33 after three successive birdies from the second hole.
The 17th is a wonderful hole that brings the water unavoidably into play on either the first or second shots and it punished several of the golfers on Thursday.
World number one Luke Donald was in the lead on four-under when he pulled his drive left off the tee and into the water, having to reload and leading to a double-bogey and a 70 that left him in a tie for fourth with Jason Dufner, Simon Dyson, Martin Kaymer, Kyung-Tae Kim and Graeme McDowell.
Kaymer bogeyed the 17th, only avoiding a double by sinking a 12-foot putt, after his second shot was short and slid off the bank into the water.
Jason Dufner also bogeyed the penultimate hole, but it was a cold putter that struck the biggest blows to the American’s hopes as could pick up just one birdie on the back nine, when several more beckoned after his solid play from tee to green.
The Sun City debutant had four birdies on the front nine, but also had two bogeys.
Another debutant, South Korean Kyung-Tae Kim, closed with a highly-creditable 70, birdieing the par-five 10th and 14th holes before parring his way in for an impressive first round.
But it is the home favourite who has gathered some early momentum and lived up to his billing as one of the favourites for the title.
“It didn’t look too promising after the turn, so I was happy with my finish. It gave me a nice positive vibe going into the next three rounds,” Schwartzel said.
But no one in the 12-man field is outside contention, with the gap between the leader and the last-placed Darren Clarke being just six shots.
The Open champion did not have the best of days, with three bogeys and a double-bogey at the par-four sixth, but the popular Northern Irishman ensured the rest of the field did not get away from him by finishing with a 74.
In the Nedbank Senior Challenge, Tom Lehman will be agonizing over his final hole. The American had a one-stroke lead as he stood on the tee, but after holing a lengthy putt for double-bogey, he had slipped down to fifth place on two-under-par.
It looks like a tremendous battle for the smaller crystal orb, with David Frost, Bernhard Langer, Nick Price and Ian Woosnam, all members of the Million Dollar winners’ circle, tied for the lead on three-under.