Justin Harding leads Tshwane Open as Charl Schwartzel struggles
Friday 12 February 2016 19:27, UK
Justin Harding holds a one-shot lead after the opening round of the Tshwane Open, where Charl Schwartzel struggled in his return to action.
Harding finished with back-to-back birdies on his way to a seven-under 63 and set the clubhouse target at Pretoria CC, with top seed Schwartzel sitting eight shots off the pace following a slow start to his campaign.
After reaching the turn in 33, Harding went on to post gains on five of his final eight holes to go two clear of early pacesetter Theunis Spangenber, but saw his advantage halved when late starter Anthony Michael closed an opening round 64.
"I'm super chuffed," Harding said after chipping in to birdie the last. "I have been struggling the last couple of events so it's a confidence boost.
"I felt like I hit it quite nicely although I was quite jammy on the last; I chipped in from a position that otherwise was not very good. So that was a great way to finish the day.
"It's been a while since I've been up there in one of these events so it's a good feeling. I'm just going to see if I can maybe keep it going."
Michael picked up three strokes over his opening four holes along the back nine and moved in to outright second with three more gains over a five-hole stretch after the turn, but missed out on a share of the lead with a two-putt par at the par-five ninth.
Qualifier Spangenberg, ranked outside of the world's top 1000, bounced back from a double-bogey at the 10th to close a five-under 67, with Jaco Van Zyl a further stroke back as he searches for a long-awaited first European Tour victory.
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"I've been hitting the ball well and the game seems solid, so I was confident coming into this week and didn't doubt myself, both in the qualifier and in today's first round," Spangenberg said.
"I did drop those two shots at 10 and after initially making a bit of a mess of the 11th I eventually chipped in for par to keep the momentum going, but I hit a lot of fairways and was rolling in the putts."
Merrick Bremner completes an all-South African top-five, while Joburg Open winner Haydn Porteous played a shot with no shirt or shoes on during his level-par 70.
Making his first appearance since December's Nedbank Golf Challenge, former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel bogeyed two of his final five holes to close a one-over 71 and join SA Open champion Brandon Stone in a tie for 38th.
Watch the Tshwane Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf. Second round coverage gets underway on Friday from 8.30am
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