Two players were tied at the top of leaderboard at the Tshwane Open when play was suspended on the 1st day at Copperleaf Golf & Country Estate in South Africa.
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Simon Dyson birdied his last four holes to grab the clubhouse lead with his completed, bogey free, first round of -7 under par 65. He is joined at the top of the Tshwane Open leaderboard by Trevor Fisher Jnr, who has yet to finish his round. Trevor has completed 16 holes and will return to the course at 0645 tomorrow to finish his first round, with the second round beginning at 0700.
Simon explained how he played, and how his putting has improved;
“It was really nice, it’s a lovely start. It’s my lowest round in a good few years, especially on the first day. It just puts you in a nice frame of mind, a good stead, and sets it up nicely to have a good weekend. I holed a good six footer for par at the first and then about a 40 footer for birdie at the second and that was it, I was off and running.
I had made three really good up and downs on the holes before the 15th. I drove it in the bunker down 12 and then missed the green left and chipped it to about ten feet and rolled that one in for par. On the next I hit a good shot and it just released and rolled into the bunker and I upped and downed that, rolled in about an eight footer for par. I flew the green at 14 and then made a really good up and down.
“You just kick on after that and next I had the par five, where you always have a chance. Putting has been the let-down for the last few weeks, but me and my caddie had a chat about what I’m doing wrong. We spent about an hour and a half on the putting green yesterday and I managed to get a good feel for it.”
Trevor likes playing at home in South Africa;
“I got into a nice steady run with four birdies in a row on the front nine, which was my back nine, unfortunately I dropped one at the last, but I can’t complain too much with seven under. The course is pretty soft after all the rain we’ve had and it depends on what happens this afternoon, but if you drive it well then you’ll have a lot of looks at birdie. My game feels in good shape coming off the back of a good result in South Africa a couple of weeks ago. I don’t know what it is, I just enjoy playing down here and I seem to play quite well.”
Ross Fisher and four more South Africans, Erik Van Rooyen, Jared Harvey, Darren Fichardt and Danie van Tonder are tied in third position, all on -6 under par under. Darren and Danie have yet to complete their first rounds.
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