Ken Borland

The general consensus after the first round of the South African Open at Blair Atholl Golf and Equestrian Estate on Thursday was that it was a very long walk indeed, but for leader Joakim Lagergren, it was a fun day, not spoiled at all by the 7.5km length of the course.

Golf being a good walk spoiled is, of course, one of the most famous quotes about the game, erroneously attributed to Mark Twain, one of the most misquoted people of all time. The phrase was first published in 1903, an aphorism that was seemingly used by many but belonged to nobody in particular.

But there was no spoiling Lagergren’s opening round in the second-oldest national open of them all, first played, co-incidentally, back in 1903. The Swede was rampant on Thursday, collecting seven birdies and not dropping a single shot on his way to a commanding 65 that gave him a one-stroke lead.

While others left the Gary Player designed course looking hot and bothered, the 32-year-old fronted the media smiling and looking fresh and buoyant, capable of perhaps doing a quick run around the front nine again.

“Golf was fun today,” Lagergren beamed, “I really enjoyed it. I told my caddy on the sixth that it was one of the longest par-threes I have ever seen at 240 yards and it was very rare to come in with a wedge on any of the par-fours. And there are huge greens, but luckily I putted well. I have been finding something with my putter after struggling for the last few weeks,” Lagergren said.

Andy Sullivan, the 2015 SA Open champion at Glendower, came in just before Lagergren, having also posted an excellent score, a five-under-par 67 that left him two shots behind.

He described it as a “long fucking walk” off camera but his sparkling wit was present as always.

“I’m not one of the longest hitters so the course didn’t particularly suit me, my strategy was just ‘hit the ball as hard as you can!’

“I know he is one of the fittest people alive, but I would love to see Mr Player walk around here, he might rethink his design a bit, it is definitely one of the most physically demanding courses I’ve played.

“There’s no warming down, it’s straight to Nandos and then prepare for tomorrow by resting,” Sullivan said.

The jovial Englishman employed the services of his accurate long-irons to share third place with two South Africans, Jovan Rebula and Louis de Jager, and said he is hoping a return to the Highveld, where he has a superb record, having also won the Joburg Open in 2015, will kickstart a much better season for him after two rough years.

“I got off to a really good start with three birdies in the first four holes and I holed a lot inside 12 feet today. It was actually more about control today, last week my mid to long irons were very good and they helped me out today again.

“I’ve struggled the last two seasons but I’ve managed to keep my card. I’ve tried something new by going back to Jamie Gough as coach and it feels like my game is there or thereabouts.

“I normally don’t play in December that much, but I felt it was important to get off to a good start this season, I have history here in Johannesburg and it’s a great place to start,” a more serious Sullivan said.

Highly-talented young South African Casey Jarvis is sandwiched between Lagergren and Sullivan et al after a wonderful round of 66 in the morning that did not lack for quality at all.

“I don’t hit the ball that long so I’ve got to drive the ball good. I also hit my long-irons pretty well. This course is a big mental challenge, especially the really long par-fours. You just have to try and stay patient,” Jarvis said.

A compatriot who showed quite extraordinary forbearance was Christiaan Bezuidenhout. He played superbly from tee-to-green, but missed a handful of putts from inside 10 feet that could have transformed his impressive 68 into a score of eight-under-par or so. By the back nine, where his only birdie came on the 12^th, you could sense that inside he was starting to beg for a putt to just go in!

If that Bezuidenhout putter warms up on the second day, then the smart money might well be on the 2020 SA Open champion.

Quinton de Kock said after the third ODI between South Africa and England that it was “nice to get out in the middle and score some runs” in his trademark understated way, but given the hunger he showed to make it really count on Sunday, the fact that rain limited his fun to just 76 balls in 105 minutes would have frustrated the 29-year-old.

The left-hander made the most of his time at the crease though, overcoming a scratchy start against excellent English seam bowling to stroke a marvellous 92 not out before the match was washed out. It was his first major innings since his phenomenal 140 not out for the Lucknow Super Giants against the Kolkata Knight Riders on May 18 in his penultimate IPL game.

De Kock had only batted five more times since then, suffering a hand injury during the Proteas’ T20 series in India, so he was eager to make his mark at Headingley.

“It was obviously nice to get out there and score some runs, spend some time in the middle after time away from the game,” De Kock said after the series was shared 1-1 with world champions England.

“The pitch was providing a bit of swing and movement, so I just had to soak up the pressure at first, 50 overs is a long time, and make sure I remained strong in my positions.

“I wanted to make sure I had a strong defence and put away the bad balls, while keeping the ball on the ground for as long as possible. That was the game-plan.

“It was tricky facing three left-arm seamers swinging it around. But we thought that might happen in this series, so we did our prep to make sure we weren’t caught off-guard,” De Kock said.

The three-match series did provide at least one unexpected outcome, with star England all-rounder Ben Stokes’s decision to join the growing number of players who have retired from a format of the game catching many off-guard.

De Kock himself is strictly a white-ball player these days, and pleasingly is still clearly a top-class practitioner who makes batting look so easy on days like Sunday. Part of his secret is that he does not overcomplicate things and he said how much cricket players should be willing to play is purely a personal decision.

“It is starting to be tough for those players who play in all three formats, that is a lot of cricket and there are even more games now over the calendar year,” De Kock said.

“It’s an individual decision, if you feel you can do it then I’m happy for you, but others have taken it into their own hands. It’s a personal decision.

“If you’re still young then I think you should still play in all three formats. But as you get older, the body doesn’t co-operate as much. It’s just about managing things to prolong our careers.

“But there are still World Cups I want to play in and win, I still have a lot to play for. I always try to make an impact, that’s what we’re here to do, no matter how many formats you play,” De Kock said.

The Proteas’ resident ginger, Heinrich Klaasen, deeply annoyed the English team, especially his fellow red-haired opponents, with his gamesmanship in the second ODI at Old Trafford on Friday night, but the 30-year-old batsman afterwards brushed off the incident as “fun and games on the field”.

South Africa had plummeted to 39 for five after 10 of their 29 overs when Klaasen stopped play to complain about his vision of the ball being disturbed by white sheeting at the bottom of the black sightscreen. Initially the umpires battled to understand what he was complaining about, with England getting more and more frantic for play to resume as the drizzle that was falling was only getting heavier.

By this stage, the Proteas were already badly behind in the contest, needing 164 runs in 19 overs with the last recognised pair of batsmen together at the crease. Their best hope seemed to be for the match to be rained off before they had faced 20 overs, in which case there would be no result.

It took a few minutes for the penny to drop that the ground staff had shifted the boundary boards aside in order to allow them to bring the covers on quickly if necessary, thereby exposing the white sheeting which Klaasen alleged made the white ball difficult to see.

The wicketkeeper/batsman afterwards admitted that he actually had no problems sighting the ball but he was just trying to delay play. England were boiling over with frustration and Klaasen sparked something of a Ginger War as Jonny Bairstow fumed at the batsman and the umpires, and captain Jos Buttler, who has a hint of reddish-brown hair himself, stomped around.

“It was zero percent about the ball disappearing,” Klaasen admitted. “It was starting to rain harder and I was just trying to delay matters. I hoped the umpires would take us off the field before the 20 overs, but unfortunately they didn’t.

“It was just some old-school tricks. The England boys didn’t like it and I knew the abuse would come. I was just trying to upset their game a bit, I thought it couldn’t do us any harm.

“It frustrated a lot of them, but we didn’t come off in the end. What they said to me didn’t bother me at all, it was just fun and games on the field, and off the field hopefully we can still have a beer after the next game. It’s easy for me to keep that sort of thing on the field,” Klaasen said.

England had the last laugh though as South Africa were skittled for a dismal 83 all out and left to mourn a massive 118-run defeat, with paceman David Willey saying “I’m thinking Mother Cricket came around”.

Olympic silver medallist Sunette Viljoen’s only expectation as she resumes her cricket career is that she has fun and is able to showcase her talents in another sport, but such is the competitive fire that burns within the 38-year-old that she believes she can make it back into the Proteas team.

South Africa’s most successful javelin thrower with her second place in the 2016 Rio Olympics and two Commonwealth Games golds (alongside Marius Corbett – gold medals at the 1997 World Champs & 1998 Commonwealth Games), Viljoen has been included in the Northerns Titans training squad for their Senior Provincial matches starting in January.

Viljoen actually first made her name in cricket, debuting for South Africa in 2000 as a 17-year-old out of Hoerskool Rustenburg. At the time, she was the youngest to ever represent the women’s national team and she played in the World Cup in New Zealand that year and played one Test and 17 ODIs for the Proteas before switching her focus to athletics. Her last representative game of cricket was in 2003.

“I always knew I would go back to cricket for a new challenge and after my shoulder injury kept me out of Tokyo last year,” Viljoen told The Citizen. “I have severe competitiveness and that fire burns very high in me.

“I started back at the bottom with Irene Villagers in August/September last year and I’ve done really well – I scored 141, 102 and 80 recently, and took a few wickets. That got me into the Titans training squad.

“I’m really looking forward to the new year, I can’t wait for the opportunity to play for them and I think my game is strong enough.

“There’s no pressure on me to perform, the most important thing is for me to enjoy myself, show my talent and how much I love to play cricket. But I want to play for the national side again and I will go fully for that,” Viljoen said.

Of course the game has changed immensely since Viljoen last played at provincial level – her memory is of it basically being a hobby for the participants – but her experiences at the highest level of athletics means the all-rounder is confident she has the mettle to handle the increased professionalism that is now evident in women’s cricket.

“I am going to be fearless, believe in my own game and my capabilities, I am not going to stand back for anyone. My mental strength is very good.

“I had to overcome a lot on the international stage in finals at World Championships, Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games. I will bring the same mentality as on the athletics field.

“It’s you against the bowler or batter and I’m used to staying sharp for an hour-and-a-half in an Olympic final. There’s a lot to carry over from my athletics career, but I have always enjoyed team sports as well.

“I’ve been an individual sportswoman for such a long time, so it’s nice to be in a team environment again. My personality enjoys being amongst other people, but cricket is still quite individualistic,” Viljoen said.