Defending champion Max Homa closed with a 6-under 66 featuring three consecutive birdies from the first hole and back-to-back birdies from the 17th as well as two bogeys to take a one-shot lead at the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
“I thought I played really well,” said the American. “It was really tricky with the wind, it did a complete flip on seven, so it threw us through a bit of a loop but I thought I did a really good job of adjusting to it.
“Made one mistake on the 15th, leaving it long of that pin, but otherwise I did a pretty good job of playing within myself and not hitting shots I don’t love to hit, so yeah it was good.
“It felt really good because I haven’t played a tournament in a while and I have been working on a lot of new stuff, so to come out and birdie the first three holes was cool. The way I was doing it felt nice and I felt really comfortable with the golf swing for the most part, so it is definitely one I will remember, that is for sure.”
South African Ockie Strydom eagled the par-5 14th, bogeyed the par-4 15h and made four birdies for a 67 to take solo second place at 5-under.
England’s Andy Sullivan and Matthew Jordan both carded 69s for a share of third place at 3-under alongside Spain’s Pablo Larrazábal and Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen.
Related: The numbers game
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HOMA, Max | -6 | 66 |
| 2 | STRYDOM, Ockie | -5 | 67 |
| 3 | LARRAZÁBAL, Pablo | -3 | 69 |
| | SULLIVAN, Andy | -3 | 69 |
| | OLESEN, Thorbjørn | -3 | 69 |
| | JORDAN, Matthew | -3 | 69 |
| 7 | COUSSAUD, Ugo | -2 | 70 |
| | LANGASQUE, Romain | -2 | 70 |
| | WILLIAMS, Robin | -2 | 70 |
| | BEZUIDENHOUT, Christiaan | -2 | 70 |
| VEERMAN, Johannes | -2 | 70 | |
| 12 | GUERRIER, Julien | -1 | 71 |
| | SMYLIE, Elvis | -1 | 71 |
| | BRADBURY, Dan | -1 | 71 |
| | FITZPATRICK, Alex | -1 | 71 |
| | NORGAARD, Niklas | -1 | 71 |
| | DING, Wenyi | -1 | 71 |
| | FERGUSON, Ewen | -1 | 71 |
| | HUGHES, Mackenzie | -1 | 71 |
| | BROWN, Daniel | -1 | 71 |
| | CLEMENTS, Todd | -1 | 71 |
| | LAWRENCE, Thriston | -1 | 71 |
| 23 | GUMBERG, Jordan | Par | 72 |
| | HIDALGO, Angel | Par | 72 |
| | SIEM, Marcel | Par | 72 |
| SMITH, Jordan | Par | 72 | |
| | LACROIX, Frederic | Par | 72 |
| | HILLIER, Daniel | Par | 72 |
| | BAIRSTOW, Sam | Par | 72 |
| | KATSURAGAWA, Yuto | Par | 72 |
| | CONNERS, Corey | Par | 72 |
| | WARING, Paul | Par | 72 |
| | FORSSTRÖM, Simon | Par | 72 |
| 34 | HØJGAARD, Nicolai | +1 | 73 |
| | WILLETT, Danny | +1 | 73 |
| | LAPORTA, Francesco | +1 | 73 |
| | OTAEGUI, Adrian | +1 | 73 |
| | POTGIETER, Aldrich | +1 | 73 |
| | ELVIRA, Nacho | +1 | 73 |
| | CANTER, Laurie | +1 | 73 |
| 41 | ZALATORIS, Will | +2 | 74 |
| | STONE, Brandon | +2 | 74 |
| | MANASSERO, Matteo | +2 | 74 |
| 44 | SÖDERBERG, Sebastian | +3 | 75 |
| | VAN ROOYEN, Erik | +3 | 75 |
| | CAMPILLO, Jorge | +3 | 75 |
| | JOHNSTON, Ryggs | +3 | 75 |
| 48 | VAN DRIEL, Darius | +4 | 76 |
| | WHITNELL, Dale | +4 | 76 |
| | SYME, Connor | +4 | 76 |
| HISATSUNE, Ryo | +4 | 76 | |
| | DETRY, Thomas | +4 | 76 |
| | COCKERILL, Aaron | +4 | 76 |
| | SVENSSON, Jesper | +4 | 76 |
| | WIESBERGER, Bernd | +4 | 76 |
| | MIGLIOZZI, Guido | +4 | 76 |
| | FRITTELLI, Dylan | +4 | 76 |
| 58 | MCKIBBIN, Tom | +5 | 77 |
| | RAVETTO, David | +5 | 77 |
| | FORREST, Grant | +5 | 77 |
| 61 | BJÖRK, Alexander | +6 | 78 |
| | GAVINS, Daniel | +6 | 78 |
| | DEAN, Joe | +6 | 78 |
| | HILL, Calum | +6 | 78 |
| 65 | VÄLIMÄKI, Sami | +7 | 79 |
| | VAN VELZEN, Ryan | +7 | 79 |
