Jaco Van Zyl fires first round 61 to lead Turkish Airlines Open
Friday 30 October 2015 15:22, UK
Jaco Van Zyl took advantage of scoring-friendly conditions to post a bogey-free 61 and move in to a three-shot lead after the opening round of the Turkish Airlines Open.
The South African racked up nine birdies and eagle to produce the lowest round of his European Tour career, on a day where Lee Westwood and Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy also got off to strong starts.
Van Zyl opened with a birdie at the par-four first and picked up three more gains along the front nine, before moving in to a share of the lead alongside early pacesetter Chris Wood by holing a long-range eagle at the par-five 11th.
Five further birdies over the final six holes saw the world No 132 move in to commanding lead, which would have been a new course record had preferred lies not been in operation after last week's heavy rain, with Westwood his closest challenger at eight under.
The Englishman had surged up the leaderboard by following four consecutive birdies from 14th with a hat-trick of gains from the second, with a blemish-free 64 his lowest round in 14 months.
"I played well, hit the ball close a lot of times and was just really solid," Westwood told Sky Sports. "My whole game was pretty sharp.
"I didn't play the par-five's as best I'd like, there's five and I only played those in one under but all in all it was a good round of golf."
Wood sits out on his own in third spot at six under, while top seed McIlroy is one of seven players tied a further stroke back thanks to a solid start at Montgomerie Maxx Royal.
"Yeah it's a nice start, I played lovely today," Wood said. "I made one stupid bogey on 15 which was on my front nine, but apart from that I felt like I gave myself a birdie putt on every hole."
Kiradech Aphibarnrat, searching for a third win of the season, was also six shots off the lead, while Shane Lowry joined Lucas Bjerregaard in signing for a 68 after the Irishman finished with back-to-back bogeys.
"I would have taken four under at the start but it's a bit disappointing," Lowry said. "It was a pure lapse of concentration on eight and a sloppy tee shot on nine left me a lot of work to do."
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Ian Poulter's strong start was undone by a finding the water at the par-three fifth and running up a triple-bogey on his way to a three-under 69, with one-time leader Tyrrell Hatton also part of that group after an up-and-down day saw him three under after just two holes but also card a double-bogey on his final hole.
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