Englishman Ross Fisher picked up where he left off in South Africa, carding a six under par 66 in the first round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge to lead by two shots.
The last time Fisher was here, in March, he captured the Tshwane Open in Pretoria – where he also opened with a 66 – and he again showed an affinity for the Highveld with seven birdies and one bogey to make a fine start to the first event of The 2015 Race to Dubai.
On a scorching day at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, South African George Coetzee signed for a 68 to share second place alongside Frenchman Alexander Levy and Germany’s Marcel Siem, who holed his second shot from 184 yards for eagle on the 17th to win a car.
Three other home favourites, Tim Clark, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, opened with rounds of 70 to lie joint fifth, along with American Brooks Koepka, Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher and Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiménez, who hit the first tee shot of the new season.
Quotes
Ross Fisher
“I’m delighted to be back. Having played here in 2009 and 2010, it’s definitely one of the tournaments on I think everybody’s mind after the Majors and WGCs. I’m feeding off good memories of the last two times I’ve been here and the victory at Tshwane. I felt like I drove it really well. I didn’t miss many fairways. You can’t really be too aggressive on this course, but my style of golf is to hit driver a lot because I hit it quite long and I do generally hit it pretty straight. I hit one loose shot on the 16th and made bogey, but you can’t be too disappointed with one bad shot in 18 holes.”
George Coetzee
“I remember coming here as a kid and getting a signed ball from Nick Price. It was the year he beat Tiger and it was pretty awesome. This is Africa’s Major. I had a little game plan even before I got here this week about how to play the golf course. Obviously starting with three birdies, that was special. It’s my first Nedbank and I wasn’t expecting that, but it was obviously a pleasant surprise. I felt like I was in control of what I’m trying to do with my game.”
Marcel Siem
“It wasn’t the best golf shot of my career on 17. I tried to draw it in and it stayed straight and hit the fringe, had a firm bounce to the left and went in. On the ninth I lipped out for eagle which would have won the nice watch – I said to my caddie that it was unbelievable it didn’t go in. I just hope to have a good start to the season this week. It’s such a familiar golf tournament here, it’s unbelievable.
Alexander Levy
“It’s an amazing place, an amazing golf course. This morning I didn’t feel comfortable on the range, but I kept trying to do my best and I was a little bit lucky with some shots. But a round with no bogeys is always good and I’m very happy with four under.”
Round 1 scores:
66 R Fisher (Eng) ,
68 G Coetzee (RSA) , M Siem (Ger) , A Levy (Fra) ,
70 B Koepka (USA) , S Gallacher (Sco) , T Clark (RSA) , C Schwartzel (RSA) , L Oosthuizen (RSA) , M Jiménez (Esp) ,
71 T Jaidee (Tha) , J Blixt (Swe) , D Willett (Eng) , L Donald (Eng) ,
72 S Lowry (Irl) , K Aphibarnrat (Tha) , L Westwood (Eng) , J Luiten (Ned) ,
73 B Todd (USA) , P Larrazábal (Esp) , D Van Der Walt (RSA) ,
74 M Kaymer (Ger) , T Fleetwood (Eng) , J Ahlers (RSA) , J Donaldson (Wal) ,
75 M Warren (Sco) ,
76 M Ilonen (Fin) ,
77 D Van Tonder (RSA) , K Na (USA) ,
80 T Bjørn (Den) ,
