South Africa’s Christiaan Burke and Spaniard Eugenio Chacarra took advantage of a receptive East Course at Royal Johannesburg on Thursday to sign for rounds of 63 and jointly lead the first round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
They head the field on nine under par, one stroke clear of the South African duo of former winners Brandon Stone and Thriston Lawrence.
The first round produced a tantalising leaderboard that includes another former champion in Branden Grace, who is just two strokes off the lead. Another group of former champions — Louis Oosthuizen, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Shaun Norris, Marcel Siem and Pablo Larrazabal — along with Aldrich Potgieter and Dean Burmester are four shots behind the leaders.
The quality of the leaderboard sent Burke straight to the driving range after his round, despite an opening stretch of six consecutive birdies and a closing eagle.
“My ball striking wasn’t there at all today, so that’s why I needed some range work, but I’ve never seen my putter this hot,” Burke said. “I had a good start and only figured out after the seventh hole that I made six birdies in a row. Then I had back-to-back bogeys on 15 and 16, and my caddie said, ‘just finish strong.’ So we did, with a birdie and an eagle. I like this golf course. I play here a lot, and it suits my game.”
Co-leader Chacarra was just as pleased with his start. “I played really good golf. I’ve been playing well, but the score hasn’t been there. But I trusted the plan I have with my caddie, and I think we did a tremendous job,” he said.
“The course is playing a little easier being so soft, but you still have to hit the shots out there. With the soft greens you can attack a little more than you normally would.”
Second-placed Stone and Lawrence didn’t drop a single shot. Stone in particular was delighted with his putting performance as he chases a second championship title.
“That was amazing. It’s the first time my putter’s worked in about 18 months to two years. Hopefully that continues,” Stone said.
“The goal for me was to go out and play with a bit more freedom and trust my natural ability and almost channel the inner child who used to play this course when I was a kid.”
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