VIDEO: Schwartzel moves into contention
The first round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship concluded on Friday after being delayed by a storm, and three-time champion Charl Schwartzel finished his round of six-under-par 66 to move to within two strokes of the lead.
The 2011 Masters champion has been battling with his game, and has regained his form in the long game, although he continued to be concerned about his putting – he missed a few makeable putts which could have had him level with the leader, Christiaan Basson who posted an eight-under 64 on the first day.
“It’s early days, but I’m happy,” said Schwartzel. “I continued with good form with my long game. I gave myself a chance on almost every hole, and a makeable chance. So I was in play, lurking with the chance of shooting a really low score. It got a bit quiet for a few holes but I’m happy that I kept hitting good shots and I finally made a few shortish putts. That ticked me on to a good score.
“My long game is really good. Maybe I’m relying on it too much, but it takes a lot of pressure off if you can hit it the way I did. But when it’s four rounds, you’re probably going to have somewhere along the line where you scrap it around a little bit and that’s when the whole game needs to click in. That’s when the short game and the putting needs to stand up and save you and that’s how you win tournaments. It’s pretty tough to play flawlessly all the time, and I expect that. But maybe I can just continue like this and then I’m sure I’ll be in the hunt on Sunday.
“It’s so early, so I’m not too concerned about the 64 that’s been posted. This golf course is not a walkover, so I can only keep doing what I’m trying to do and if I keep hitting it well and giving myself chances, I’ll keep ticking on the board and that’s pretty much all I can ask for right now. Whatever the leader does is in his hands.”
The second round started on Friday.
Round 1 final scores:
64 – Christiaan Basson (RSA)
66 – Charl Schwartzel (RSA)
67 – Mark Williams (ZIM), Matt Ford (ENG)
68 – Niclas Fasth (SWE), Ryan Tipping (RSA), Borja Virto Astudillo (ESP), Benjamin Hebert (FRA), Vaughn Groenewald (RSA), Joost Luiten (NED), Jean-Paul Strydom (RSA), Richard Sterne (RSA)
69 – Doug McGuigan (SCO), Rhys Davies (WAL), Jason Scrivener (AUS), Dylan Frittelli (RSA), Jeff Inglis (ENG), Lindani Ndwandwe (RSA), Lyle Rowe (RSA), Pablo Martin Benavides (ESP), Brandon Stone (RSA), Colin Nel (RSA)
70 – Andrew Curlewis (RSA), Kevin Phelan (IRL), Michael Hollick (RSA), Scott Jamieson (SCO), Oliver Bekker (RSA), Gregory Bourdy (FRA), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Shaun Norris (RSA), Jamie McLeary (SCO), Felipe Aguilar (CHL), Lasse Jensen(DEN), Darren Fichardt (RSA), Keith Horne (RSA), Daniel Im (USA), Tano Goya (ARG), Linus Gillgren (SWE), Chris Hanson (ENG)
71 – Nicolo Ravano (ITA ), Alex Haindl (RSA), Richard Bland (ENG), Jaco Van Zyl (RSA), Branden Grace (RSA), Johan Carlsson (SWE), Tyrone Ferreira (RSA), Sebastien Gros (FRA), Danie van Tonder (RSA), Daniel Gaunt (AUS), Mikael Lundberg(SWE), Laurie Canter (ENG), Ryan Evans (ENG), Tom Murray (ENG), Jake Redman (RSA), Dean Burmester (RSA), Ben Evans (ENG), Jean Hugo (RSA), Mark Foster (ENG), Jens Fahrbring (SWE), Rhys West (RSA), David Drysdale (SCO)
72 – Heinrich Bruiners (RSA), Erik van Rooyen (RSA), Bjorn Akesson (SWE), Ulrich van den Berg (RSA), Hennie Otto (RSA), Thomas Linard (FRA), Ricardo Gouveia (POR), Adrian Otaegui (ESP), Jared Harvey (RSA), Lee Slattery (ENG), Thomas Aiken (RSA), Louis de Jager (RSA), Jaco Ahlers (RSA)
73 – Edouard Espana (FRA), Renato Paratore (ITA), Garth Mulroy (RSA), Rourke van der Spuy (RSA), Jacques Blaauw (RSA), Jbe’ Kruger (RSA), Joachim B. Hansen (DEN), Titch Moore (RSA), Stuart Manley (WAL), Espen Kofstad (NOR), Paul Dunne (IRL), John Hahn (USA), Clement Berardo (FRA), PH McIntyre (RSA), Justin Walters (RSA), Romain Wattel (FRA), Andrew Georgiou (CYP), Nino Bertasio (ITA), Tyrone Mordt (RSA), Toby Tree (ENG)
74 – Justin Harding (RSA), Tjaart van der Walt (RSA), Matthew Southgate (ENG), Magnus A Carlsson (SWE), Craig Lee (SCO), Callum Shinkwin (ENG), Madalitso Muthiya (ZAM), JC Ritchie (RSA), Michiel Bothma (RSA), Merrick Bremner (RSA), Eddie Pepperell (ENG), JJ Senekal (RSA), Francesco Laporta (ITA)
75 – Sam Walker (ENG), Max Orrin (ENG), Ross McGowan (ENG), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA), Andrew Johnston (ENG), Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN), Adilson Da Silva (BRA), Makhetha Mazibuko (RSA), Toto Thimba (Jnr), Thriston Lawrence (RSA), Ockie Strydom (RSA), Ruan de Smidt (RSA), Jorge Campillo (ESP), Divan van den Heever (RSA)
76 – Callum Mowat (RSA), Jeff Winther (DEN), James Robinson (ENG), Gregory Havret (FRA), Chris Paisley (ENG), Neil Schietekat (RSA), Trevor Fisher Jnr (RSA), Richard McEvoy (ENG), Chris Swanepoel (RSA), John Parry (ENG), Nacho Elvira (ESP)
77 – Ryan Cairns (ZIM), Dwayne Basson (RSA), Thanda Mavundla (RSA), James Kamte (RSA), Bradley Neil (SCO), Trevor Mahoney (RSA)
78 – CJ du Plessis (RSA), Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Steve Surry (ENG), Jake Roos (RSA), Haydn Porteous (RSA), Peter Karmis (RSA)
79 – Peter Lawrie (IRL), Alexander Levy (FRA), Wynand Dingle (RSA), Matthew Baldwin (ENG), Jacquin Hess (RSA)
80 – Jens Dantorp (SWE), Morten Orum Madsen (DEN), Pelle Edberg (SWE)
81 – Terence Salo (RSA)
85 – Oliver Wilson (ENG)
86 – Wallie Coetsee (RSA)
87 – Werner van Niekerk (RSA)
- ANA
(Photo from video)