– Max Homa (-6) picks up in Sun City exactly where he left off. The American, a standout winner last year of the South African Nedbank Golf Challenge, began his title defence this Thursday with a scorecard of 66 strokes, the same he signed in the final round of 2023, and has taken the solo lead right from the start. His total at the Gary Player Country Club is already -25 over five rounds. Like Max at home.
– His play has been exceptional. It cannot be considered a casual lead. He has stepped up since missing out on the FedEx Cup Final. He played two tournaments in the PGA Tour Fall Series without much brilliance. He missed the cut at the Procore Championship and finished 23rd at the ZOZO Championship. But this is something else. We’ll see if this is Homa’s take-off after a dull season. Since the Masters, where he finished in a magnificent third place, he has only achieved one top 10.
– We say it’s not a casual lead because of the golf he has displayed. It wasn’t an easy day in Sun City. The wind blew, a swirling and uncomfortable wind. In fact, only 22 players finished under par, a third, and -2 is well settled within the top 10. However, Homa achieved his eight birdies from three metres and under, six of which were with putts of less than two metres. A display with the irons on a course where you have to hit the ball very well. You can’t escape.
– Homa (-6) has a one-stroke lead over Ockie Strydom (-5), a player who has been practically missing in action since winning in Singapore on the DP World Tour in 2023. Since then, mind you, he has played 47 tournaments and missed the cut or withdrawn 32 times, with two streaks of nine and ten consecutive weeks without playing all four days.
– Pablo Larrazábal (-3) has placed himself in third position after the first round. He shot 69 strokes. It’s the second time in his career he has gone below 70 at the Gary Player Country Club. It’s his eighth appearance. A total of 29 rounds with today’s. It’s not exactly his garden. His best position at the Nedbank was back in 2014, his debut. He was sixteenth. Since the fourth round of 2016, when he shot 67 strokes, he hasn’t gone below 70 until today. Eight years.
– It’s Pablo’s debut in DP World Tour 24-25. He came from a challenging year. Since his fourth position at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, he hasn’t finished in the top ten again and has missed ten cuts in his last 18 tournaments. He needed a turning point, and it came after missing the cut in South Korea.
– “We gathered the whole team and analysed the reasons for finishing in 93rd place in the Race to Dubai (the worst ranking of his entire career if we exclude the strange Covid year). We’ve made some swing changes in pre-season. Specifically, with my brother Alex, we realised I was making the swing shorter than Jon Rahm… and with my body. That couldn’t be. We’ve worked on it supported by the gym. We’ve greatly enhanced the physical part. I feel it, and it’s noticeable. I’m much more solid,” he explains to Ten Golf.
– The data is indisputable. Even more so if we consider he’s somewhat unsettled with his stomach. He vomited several times on Monday right after getting off the plane that took them from Johannesburg to Sun City, and this morning he felt unwell again. It seems the vitamin drink he consumes hasn’t agreed with him. Without being entirely in shape, he signed a great round. Today, above all, he was very sharp with the putt. He holed two putts of over six metres for birdie and saved two pars from over two and four metres. However, the moment of the day was the eagle on hole 2. He hit a masterful second shot and left it three metres away. In.
– At the top, if we include all those under par, stand out Thorbjorn Olesen (-3), Robin Williams (-2), Romain Langasque (-2), Elvis Smylie (-1), Niklas Norgaard (-1), Mackenzie Hughes (-1), Wenyi Ding (-1) or Thriston Lawrence (-1).
– As for the rest of the Armada, Ángel Hidalgo (PAR) displayed great golf in this first round, only marred by a painful double bogey on hole 16 when he was three under par. He got tangled around the green and missed a putt of just over a metre. A big concession. Afterwards, he also finished with a bogey. Beyond that, very solid from tee to green. Almost all his birdies were from very close range.
– Things went worse for Nacho Elvira (+1), struggling a lot with the irons, and Jorge Campillo (+3), who was very erratic from the tee and on the greens. On the other hand, Adrián Otaegui (+1), competing for the first time under the United Arab Emirates flag, played over par.
