– Wenyi Ding (-7) and Jordan Smith (-7) are the early leaders of the Joburg Open, the final tournament of the South African swing of the DP World Tour, as well as the International Swing. The rain has given a break at the Houghton Golf Club in Johannesburg and the first round has been completed. This is practically the best news for the Spanish golfers. Five out of the six are currently outside the cut. Only Alfredo García Heredia (-1) managed to beat the course in a tortuous first round for our players.
– The rain that has fallen in recent hours has made the course really heavy and long, but one might wonder if it was really necessary to take so many metres off the South African layout. The preparation has been very conservative. The tees have been moved forward on all 18 holes. All of them. Almost 30 metres have been taken off hole 5, a par 5. In total, almost 200 yards have been trimmed. It’s strange. It hasn’t been a complicated day in terms of conditions, it hasn’t rained and the wind hasn’t blown either. It’s as if there’s a reluctance for professionals to hit a second shot with an iron on a par 4, as if it were sacrilege. Or even worse, as if the big hitters should be deprived of the advantage they’ve earned by spending hours on the practice range and in the gym. It doesn’t make sense.
– The scores, obviously, have been low. The lead is seven under par, the top 10 closes at -5, and the cut is provisionally set at one under par. It’s likely that tomorrow, at the very least, it will end at two under par, although it will depend on the playing conditions. Rain is still forecast, so if this preparation is maintained and the greens remain receptive, it will be necessary to score low to stay in contention.
– Wenyi Ding is the name of the day. He has been emerging for some time. Consistency is a hallmark of his game. He has only missed two cuts in the 14 tournaments he has played on the DP World Tour in his career. One was at the US Open and the other at the start of this season in Australia. Since then, he has made eight consecutive cuts. However, he has been lacking the finishing touch to break into the top positions. He has a fifth place at the Australian Open and just one more top 20, two weeks ago at the Magical Kenya Open. Regardless, he is a fantastic player at just 20 years old, who is expected to surpass even the performance of Haotong Li, although only time will tell.
– The Spanish Armada is against the ropes. There will be no choice but to rally in the second round to give themselves a chance of victory over the weekend. It’s challenging. Alfredo García Heredia (-1), playing in the afternoon with the more difficult conditions because the greens weren’t rolling well, was the only one to play under par and is currently inside the provisional cut. From there, it’s all about fighting to make it through tomorrow’s cut and then giving themselves a chance to do something interesting. In this situation are Manu Elvira (PAR), Alejandro del Rey (PAR), who nearly made a hole-in-one and holed another from off the green on holes 16 and 17, Iván Cantero (+1), Joel Moscatel (+3), and Rafa Cabrera Bello (+4).
– At the top of the leaderboard, some interesting names are emerging, such as Marco Penge (-6), who achieved a great result at the South African Open, or Callum Tarren (-6). Last week’s winner, Dylan Naidoo, started with a round of PAR. It was a bad day for the only member of the world’s top 100 present in Johannesburg: John Parry (+2).
