Colsaerts streaks ahead of field
Posted on
January 19, 2012 by
Ken
Nicolas Colsaerts blasted a nine-under-par 64 to streak four shots ahead of the rest of the field after the first round of the winners-only Volvo Golf Champions at the Fancourt Links on Thursday.
Young British prospect Tom Lewis and South Africans Thomas Aiken and Branden Grace were tied in second place after shooting five-under-par 68s.
Briton David Horsey, Holland’s Joost Luiten, former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington were a further stroke back on four-under.
Colsaerts is renowned for his length off the tee, but it was the Belgian’s brilliant iron play and clinical putting that took him to his course-record score, that included birdies on all four par-threes.
“I’ve never birdied all the par-threes on a course before and you don’t see that on a scorecard that often. You’re not really looking for birdies on the par-threes, I’m thinking more that I can reach most of the par-fives in two, so it was a bonus,” Colsaerts told a news conference after his round.
The 29-year-old had four successive birdies around the turn and then closed with four birdies in a row for a seven-under-par 30 on the back nine.
“I’m very happy, to have the course record on a course like this is quite a thing. I’ve heard about this place for a long time, after the President’s Cup was played here and it being the number one course in South Africa,” Colsaerts said.
“I just seemed to hole out all day, every birdie was from close range and I took every chance from six-to-eight feet. I was hitting my irons very close and, after you’ve done that three or four times, you just keep firing at the pins. I kept hitting the fairways as well and it was probably one of the best rounds I’ve played, if not the best,” the China Open champion said.
The opening day could even have been better for the 21-year-old Lewis as his 68 included a double-bogey seven on the 16th hole – a tough, narrow par-five.
Spanish Open champion Aiken fired six birdies – four of those on the front nine – and just one bogey, while Grace, the winner of last week’s Joburg Open, rode the momentum of an eagle-three at the ninth hole to come home in four-under-par 33.
World number nine Charl Schwartzel, the highest-ranked golfer in the two million euro event, was towards the back of the field after a two-over-par 75, while the hopes of home town favourite Ernie Els were boosted by birdies on the last three holes that lifted him to a 71.
The three-time major winner, who spends the festive season in nearby Herold’s Bay and knows Fancourt intimately, said he was hoping the wind would pick up for the rest of the tournament.
“Obviously guys played really good, but today was as easy as you’re going to find it. This course has got a lot of teeth and it has not shown it yet. When the wind comes up, it’s a huge difference, this course is a totally different animal,” Els said.