Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan carded ten birdies and one bogey for a 9-under 63 and leads by three shots at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary Player.
“It was a brilliant day, very, very happy the way I played,” said Reitan. “Off the tee, in towards the greens, I was happy, and a couple of wedge shots that were really good, so that was nice to see, and I was rolling the putter well.
“So it was a great start and I’m very, very pleased.
“I’ve been working hard on [approach play recently and it’s good to have those days where you see that it’s improved, and I’m hoping I continue that.
“I haven’t had any particularly good results in South Africa so I’m hoping to change that this week. But I am playing better overall right now than I was when I played here previously so hoping that counts for something.”
Sweden’s Jesper Svensson made eagles at the par-5s 2nd and 9th as well as three birdies and one bogey for a 66 and a share of second place at 6-under.
Also in second place are England’s Marcus Armitage who made a double bogey at the par-5 9th for his 66 and France’s Adrien Saddier who stayed bogey-free.
Related: Elvis Smylie tied for lead on home soil
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | REITAN, Kristoffer | -9 | 63 |
| 2 | SVENSSON, Jesper | -6 | 66 |
| | ARMITAGE, Marcus | -6 | 66 |
| | SADDIER, Adrien | -6 | 66 |
| 5 | NORRIS, Shaun | -4 | 68 |
| | MCKIBBIN, Tom | -4 | 68 |
| | GUERRIER, Julien | -4 | 68 |
| | DETRY, Thomas | -4 | 68 |
| | LI, Haotong | -4 | 68 |
| | HIGGO, Garrick | -4 | 68 |
| 11 | LINDELL, Oliver | -3 | 69 |
| | BRADBURY, Dan | -3 | 69 |
| | NORGAARD, Niklas | -3 | 69 |
| | POTGIETER, Aldrich | -3 | 69 |
| | FERGUSON, Ewen | -3 | 69 |
| | LEE, Junghwan | -3 | 69 |
| | LAWRENCE, Thriston | -3 | 69 |
| | CAMPILLO, Jorge | -3 | 69 |
| | HOVLAND, Viktor | -3 | 69 |
| 20 | VAN TONDER, Daniel | -2 | 70 |
| | SULLIVAN, Andy | -2 | 70 |
| | BEZUIDENHOUT, Christiaan | -2 | 70 |
| | SCHAPER, Jayden | -2 | 70 |
| | DEL REY, Alejandro | -2 | 70 |
| | TAYLOR, Nick | -2 | 70 |
| 26 | SYME, Connor | -1 | 71 |
| | JOHNSTON, Ryggs | -1 | 71 |
| | FORREST, Grant | -1 | 71 |
| | OLESEN, Thorbjørn | -1 | 71 |
| | LAGERGREN, Joakim | -1 | 71 |
| 31 | PENGE, Marco | Par | 72 |
| | PARRY, John | Par | 72 |
| | MANASSERO, Matteo | Par | 72 |
| | HOSHINO, Rikuya | Par | 72 |
| | PREMLALL, Yurav | Par | 72 |
| | LAMPRECHT, Christo | Par | 72 |
| | LUITEN, Joost | Par | 72 |
| | MANSELL, Richard | Par | 72 |
| | MOLINARI, Francesco | Par | 72 |
| | LARRAZÁBAL, Pablo | Par | 72 |
| 41 | RAVETTO, David | +1 | 73 |
| | VAN DRIEL, Darius | +1 | 73 |
| | CANTER, Laurie | +1 | 73 |
| | COUVRA, Martin | +1 | 73 |
| | SMITH, Jordan | +1 | 73 |
| | CHACARRA, Eugenio | +1 | 73 |
| | AYORA, Angel | +1 | 73 |
| | ROZNER, Antoine | +1 | 73 |
| | KATSURAGAWA, Yuto | +1 | 73 |
| 50 | HIDALGO, Angel | +2 | 74 |
| ELVIRA, Nacho | +2 | 74 | |
| | NAIDOO, Dylan | +2 | 74 |
| | MERONK, Adrian | +2 | 74 |
| 54 | STRYDOM, Ockie | +3 | 75 |
| | KRUYSWIJK, Jacques | +3 | 75 |
| | SIEM, Marcel | +3 | 75 |
| | ZALATORIS, Will | +3 | 75 |
| | VON DELLINGSHAUSEN, Nicolai | +3 | 75 |
| 59 | LACROIX, Frederic | +4 | 76 |
| | OLESEN, Jacob Skov | +4 | 76 |
| 61 | FRITTELLI, Dylan | +5 | 77 |
| | MIGLIOZZI, Guido | +5 | 77 |
| | HILL, Calum | +5 | 77 |
| 64 | WARING, Paul | +7 | 79 |
| 65 | VEERMAN, Johannes | +8 | 80 |
| 66 | GAVINS, Daniel | +9 | 81 |
