Oosthuizen Holds Convincing Lead After Nedbank First Round

Home favourite Louis Oosthuizen holds a sizeable lead after the first round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge, held in the glorious sunshine in Sun City, South Africa.

Oosthuizen shot a bogey-free 63 at the Gary Player Country Club, as he hunts down a sixth European Tour title on home soil, at an event he is yet to be victorious at.

The South African has won three different tournaments in his home nation, and he is looking to add the Nedbank to his collection.

He holds a three shot-lead over Thomas Detry after 18 holes, with the Belgian carding a first-round 66 on Thursday afternoon. The 26-year-old is still looking for his maiden European Tour victory.

A further shot back is Italian Guido Migliozzi, who has already won twice on the Tour this season, taking victory at both the Magical Kenya Open and the Belgian Knockout.

In a tie for 4th are two legends of the game, in Lee Westwood and Ernie Els, with the former being the reigning champion, as well as a second South African in Zander Lombard.

Westwood is aiming to become the first man to win this title for a second time since its inception onto the European Tour in 2013. His first round was another showing of just how good the former World No.1 is, with this amazing escape from a terrible lie.

A trio of Englishman sit at -3, six shots off the lead, in the ten-strong group in a tie for 7th. Tommy Fleetwood, Oliver Wilson and Paul Waring all carded 69’s on opening day.

The South African pair of George Coetzee and Richard Sterne are also in that group, along with Jorge Campillo, Jason Scrivener, Marcus Kinhult, Joachim Hansen, and Sebastian Soderberg.

Erik van Rooyen and Kurt Kitayama, both inside the top ten on the Race to Dubai leaderboard, sit inside the top 20 at the Nedbank after the first round, while Matthew Fitzpatrick and Bernd Wiesberger, the leader of the RTD list, sit in a tie for 25th, eight shots off the lead.

Only 28 men shot under par on the first day, with the likes of Nicolas Colsaerts, Benjamin Hebert and Joost Luiten all carding level-par rounds of 72.

Matt Wallace, Robert MacIntyre, Alex Noren and Thomas Pieters all shot +1 on opening day, with the likes of Ian Poulter, Ryan Fox, Henrik Stenson and Branden Grace all falling more than ten shots behind the leaders after just 18 holes. Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregard shot a nine-over-par round of 81 to put himself out of contention even at this early stage.

Looking ahead to the second day’s play in South Africa, and it will be the home favourite Louis Oosthuizen who will be leading the field by three shots. He will tee off alongside Thomas Detry and Guido Migliozzi in the final group.

Can the home favourite extend his lead on Friday in Sun City? Or can one of the chasing pack hunt him down? The final group tee off at 10:50 local time (GMT+2), with the first group out at 09:00!

Leaderboard:

• 1 (-9): Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)
• 2 (-6): Thomas Detry (BEL)
• 3 (-5): Guido Migliozzi (ITA)
• T4 (-4): Ernie Els (RSA), Zander Lombard (RSA), Lee Westwood (ENG)

Selected Others:

• T17 (-2): Kurt Kitayama (USA), Martin Kaymer (GER), Erik van Rooyen (GER)
• T25 (-1): Padraig Harrington (EGY), Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT)
• T29 (E): Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Benjamin Hebert (FRA), Joost Luiten (NED)
• T38 (+1): Thomas Pieters (BEL), Alex Noren (SWE), Matt Wallace (ENG), Robert MacIntyre (SCO)
• T49 (+2): Henrik Stenson (SWE), Branden Grace (RSA), Ian Poulter (ENG)
• 63 (+9): Lucas Bjerregard (DEN)