Ken Borland

Thriston Lawrence must be tired of all his recent misfortune on the European tour and, even though he was in fine form on six-under-par on Thursday, even his great first round of the Joburg Open was then halted by an untimely thunderstorm at Randpark Golf Club.

Lawrence was in a share of the lead with Spain’s Angel Hidalgo on the ninth hole, his last, when play was suspended due to lightning at 5.05pm. Little more than half-an-hour later, the first round of the co-sanctioned event was officially called off for the day.

While frustrated that he couldn’t quite complete a morale-boosting round, the 24-year-old will be delighted with his consistent play after a nasty run of three successive missed cuts and a DQ in his last four European tour events.

Lawrence started on the 10^th at Firethorn and began birdie-bogey, but finished his opening round strongly with an eagle on the 14^th and a birdie on the par-three 17^th. The Mpumalanga product then birdied the par-five fourth hole, before the highlight of his round, holing his second for eagle on the sixth hole.

Hidalgo, playing on the main European tour for the first time, also started on the 10^th and a brilliant run of birdie-birdie-eagle from the 12^th saw him race to four-under-par after five holes. He dropped a shot on 15, but two more birdies on 16 and 18 undid the damage before the turn. Although the 23-year-old bogeyed the first, further birdies on the sixth and ninth holes gave him an excellent 65.

Englishman Ashley Chesters is alone in third on five-under-par 66 and seven golfers, including South African stars Dylan Frittelli and Zander Lombard, are on 67.

Frittelli is the obvious main threat to the leaders and the favourite of the bookmakers after the first round. He looked set for the lead when he raced to five-under-par with four holes to play, but the trickery of the par-three 17^th hole then tripped him up, a bogey-four dropping him back to four-under-par.

The likes of leading international competitors Shaun Norris (68), Ross Fisher (68) and Justin Harding (69) also enjoyed the opening day of the new DP World Tour season, but Wilco Nienaber and Brandon Stone battled to master the vagaries of the wind and shot level-par 71s.

GQEBERHA, Eastern Cape – Tristen Strydom, the 24-year-old from Pretoria Country Club, has been able to supplement his undoubted talent with confidence from a fine season and astute course-management, and the benefits showed as he claimed the lead after the first round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series event at Humewood Golf Club on Thursday.

In incredibly tough conditions of strong wind and then rain, Strydom fired a superb four-under-par 68 to lead by one stroke from Richard Joubert.

The weather had already turned foul in Gqeberha on the eve of the tournament, so the golfers were expecting the worst when they teed it up at the famous old links course, that was especially wind-blown on Thursday.

Strydom and Joubert were together in the first group off and Strydom did not make a good start, missing a short putt for bogey on the first. But, remarkably, it was to be his only dropped shot on the day as he showed great composure to refuse to get flustered.

“We knew on Wednesday already that it was going to be pretty bad weather, so I was mentally prepared and just tried to enjoy it as much as possible, just do the best you can. Normally when you’re first out there is less wind, but today it was pumping from the early hours. It was a three or four club wind the whole day, I was hitting eight-irons 110 metres.

“I actually hit two great shots on the first, chipped but then two-putted because I missed a really short putt. But in conditions like this you can’t get upset by a bogey on the first hole otherwise you’re just going to make it a much longer day, which doesn’t help,” Strydom said.

The in-form Strydom, 10^th on the Order of Merit, turned in one-under with birdies on the par-four fourth and par-five seventh hole, before finding another gear on the back nine as he collected three birdies, which he says were products of his good course-management.

“Richard Joubert was playing really nicely as well so we pushed each other. It was a really solid round, a good day at the office. I didn’t really hit anything wayward, I made sure I was in good positions and missed on the right sides. All-in-all it was a well-managed round. And luckily I got out dry because it only started raining on my last hole!” Strydom said.

Joubert, coming off three successive missed cuts, was one over through nine holes, but finished in scintillating fashion with three birdies and an eagle, on the 17^th, in his last six holes.

Botswana’s Stuart Smith celebrated his country’s Independence Day by shooting a two-under 70 that gave him third place on his own, while James Kamte and Jake Redman were the only other golfers under-par after positing 71s.

The Bulls have overcome all manner of pressure and played some fine rugby, becoming a real pain in the neck for their South African rivals, but if there is one performance where fingers could be pointed at them for not pitching, it was the Rainbow Cup final against Benetton Treviso in June. But fullback David Kriel said on Tuesday that the squad has taken those lessons from Italy on board.

They will need to have learnt from the harsh lesson they were dished out that day because, in their first trip overseas since Super Rugby in March 2020 they were humbled 35-8 by Treviso, who were considered no-hopers before the game. And now on Saturday they face the might of Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in their first ever United Rugby Championship match.

“It’s another opportunity for us to build on what we learnt from the Benetton Treviso game, which was not our best performance. But we took it as a stepping stone and an opportunity for growth. It was a challenging experience but good for the squad. This time around we want to be more clinical and play like the championship side we are.

“It’s comforting that this time we are in Europe for a while, we can get used to the conditions and the lifestyle, and it will certainly benefit the squad being together for a whole month. Personally, it allows me to be like a sponge and soak up the lessons while I’m still young. We are the Currie Cup champions, we must own it and we know that Leinster will want to show they are better than us,” Kriel said.

Given their pedigree, with five European titles and being one of only four teams to ever defend the European Cup, no-one is ever going to err by considering Leinster the underdogs when they take on a Bulls side that has swept all aside at home but is yet to prove themselves overseas.

And the 22-year-old Kriel is certainly aware of how imperious Leinster have been in dominating the Pro14 that preceded the URC.

“Growing up I would always watch a quality side like Leinster. Someone like Johnny Sexton is still playing, but previously those great centres Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy played for Leinster too. So I’m a bit nervous about playing against them, but also very excited for the opportunity.

“The Currie Cup prepared us for lots of high-ball catching and the URC sides love that too, so as outside backs we’ve been working hard to make sure we don’t make mistakes there. Otherwise, as a fullback you’re not necessarily in the game for the whole 80 minutes, so I just try to be everywhere looking for work, wherever I can be used,” Kriel said.

DURBAN, KwaZulu-Natal  – Brazilian Adilson da Silva has been dogged lately by an inconsistent putter and a struggle to maintain focus on the course, but he put it all together in fine style on Thursday as he claimed a share of the lead after the first round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series event at Mount Edgecombe Country Club Estate.

Da Silva opened the third leg of this season’s Vodacom Origins of Golf Series with a polished four-under-par 66, sharing the lead with Dundee Golf Club’s Louis Albertse.

The 49-year-old Da Silva started at the 10^th on Mount Edgecombe’s The Woods course and moved to two-under with back-to-back birdies on the par-three 12^th and par-four 13^th.

There was a bit of a wobble though when he bogeyed the 18^th and second holes, sandwiching a birdie on the par-four first, but Da Silva said his efforts to stay mentally focused have started paying off as he picked up three more birdies, returning to the clubhouse in 32 strokes.

Playing in the wet, it was easy to get frustrated and allow a promising round to fritter away, but the experienced Da Silva regrouped brilliantly.

“With all the breaks between tournaments due to Covid, I was really struggling to concentrate on the course, but playing events now every couple of weeks has helped a lot. I’ve pushed myself to focus my mind on the target and not worry so much about my swing. Otherwise it’s a strange feeling of not really being there. So I’m trying to visualise, put more emphasis on the shot, keep my mind focused on the present.

“I missed a couple of putts and then made silly bogeys on 18 and two, you’re getting wet and it’s easy to get frustrated. But I just told myself to hang in there, I hit most of the fairways and greens after that and made some key putts.

“My putting has been on and off lately, which is so frustrating when you’re hitting the ball well but you feel like you’re not playing well because you can’t make a score. But today was better – 28 putts and I can feel something building,” Da Silva said.

The 13-time Sunshine Tour winner also shared the lead after the first round of his previous event, the Sunshine Tour Invitational at Centurion Country Club two weeks ago, before finishing in a tie for 12^th after closing with a pair of 71s. This time, with his putter playing along, Da Silva is hoping to maintain his first-round momentum. But he warns “You can’t just run after it here, this is a course that gives you nothing.”

Chasing Da Silva and Albertse, who coincidentally also finished in a tie for 12^th at Centurion, are Siyanda Mwandla and Riekus Nortje, who shot 67s on Thursday.

Eleven golfers are two shots back on two-under-par, including Alex Haindl, winner of the second leg of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series at Sishen at the end of last month, Ockie Strydom, Lyle Rowe, Trevor Fisher Jnr and Anton Haig.