– The first round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge has concluded, and the Gary Player Country Club has delivered an abrupt (and usual) verdict: the difference between the leader, Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan (-9), and the last placed, Englishman Daniel Gavins (+9), is exactly eighteen strokes, one per hole. This is something that often happens in this tournament, even though the number of participants is much lower than usual. Last year the difference between the first and the last after the first day was seventeen strokes, and in the previous edition, it was sixteen. The Sun City course takes no prisoners among those whose game is not finely tuned, but it leaves some room for those who are sharp, characteristics that often adorn excellent courses.
– In this case, Reitan has excelled, without a doubt. The Nordic player, whom we will see a lot of this year on the PGA Tour, has hit the ball brilliantly, made birdies on all four par 5s, and putted for eagle on three of them. Reitan seems ready, even, to challenge Viktor Hovland (-3) for national supremacy…
– But it’s going to be very difficult. It’s true that Hovland has been somewhat away from his best form for a while, but he manages to get through rounds and tournaments with pure talent, determination, and patience. That’s why he is still World Number 13. And that’s why he signed a 69 today in a round of golf filled with inaccuracies here and there. If great athletes are measured especially during lean times, there can be no doubt about Viktor’s greatness.
– Jorge Campillo (-3) missed a late birdie chance from about two metres on the 9th hole, the last of his round, but in reality, he managed the day with skill and ability in his return to competition and the start of his fifteenth consecutive season on the European circuit. He is not badly placed, on the verge of the top ten after closing a very eventful round in which he missed up to seven greens in regulation. Alejandro del Rey (-2) is also well placed, finishing on the same hole, the 9th, par 5, with a massive eagle, after hitting a fantastic long iron from over two hundred metres away and sinking a putt of about three and a half metres. That is not just dressing up a round; that is putting yourself right on the good path of a tournament that distributes so many points.
– No other Spaniard has managed to beat the course. Pablo Larrazábal (PAR) had reached the top positions but finished with three bogeys in the last third of his round. Eugenio Chacarra (+1), Ángel Ayora (+1), Ángel Hidalgo (+2), and Nacho Elvira (+2) will not face the stress of the cut tomorrow, as there is none this week, but they will need a prompt and vigorous reaction to still have a say in Sun City.
– We must celebrate the return to competition of Will Zalatoris (+3) after almost seven months of absence due to his troubled back, although the American has not been able to shine much either. This is normal on a course that, it must be stressed, quickly exposes those who are not well-prepared and finely tuned.
