Dunhill Links: Justin Walters fires 63 at St Andrews to earn one-shot lead
Thursday 26 September 2019 19:04, UK
Justin Walters put a tumultuous few months behind him to steal the headlines from the star-studded field with a superb opening 63 at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Walters suffered hamstring and calf injuries during the Irish Open in July, and he also took a break from the game earlier this month as he mourned the death of his father, but he was back to being 100 percent focused on his golf on Thursday as he carded nine birdies and kept a clean card over the Old Course at St Andrews.
The South African ended the day one shot clear of Jordan Smith, Ryan Fox, Victor Perez and Adrian Otaegui, while Tommy Fleetwood enjoyed a strong start with a 66 at Carnoustie as Rory McIlroy opened with an erratic 70 and set his sights on helping his father, Gerry, celebrate his 60th birthday with the team award.
Walters began at the 10th at St Andrews and wasted little time in finding his rhythm, making three straight birdies and picking up two more at 16 and 17 as he covered the inward nine in just 31, and he then added three birdies in four holes from the third before his ninth gain of the day at the ninth ensured he would have the outright lead overnight.
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"I haven't shot anything under 69 or 68 in a long time, so to do it here at St Andrews, and the emotions I've been through the last few months, it's just so special," said Walters, who is struggling to retain his European Tour card as he entered the week ranked 143rd in the Race to Dubai.
"I got to the Irish Open and tore my hamstring, my calf, really badly and really struggled to get right again for a while. And when I finally got over that, I lost my dad. It was quite hard, but I just decided not to feel sorry for myself, dust myself off, and coming here has a healing quality."
Otaegui was the only member of the top five to make his score away from St Andrews, capping his 64 at Kingsbarns with three consecutive birdies, while Matthew Southgate's 65 was the best round of the day at Carnoustie as the Englishman carded five birdies and an eagle at the 12th.
Fleetwood, who still holds the course record at Carnoustie with the 63 he fired two years ago, gave himself a chance to match that feat when he birdied four of the first six holes before a dropped shot at the 16th halted his charge.
The Englishman steadied himself with a run of five pars before getting back on track with birdies at the fourth, sixth and eighth holes which got him to within three of the leader alongside Ryder Cup team-mate Tyrrell Hatton and home favourite Russell Knox, who was seven under with three to play at St Andrews before he bogeyed 16 and 17.
American star Tony Finau, who posted a top-10 finish in The Open at Carnoustie last year, enjoyed a five-birdie 67 at the same venue, where Justin Rose and Luke Donald returned solid 68s, while Donald's playing-partner Lee Westwood hit the shot of the day two holes from home.
Westwood had been struggling with the putter during his round, but he did not need the short-stick at the 189-yard par-three eighth as a late change of club-selection proved an inspired decision when his perfectly-struck six-iron pitched 10 feet short of the pin and bounded into the hole for a thrilling hole-in-one.
"I thought I couldn't get a seven-iron back there as I stood over it the first time, so I thought I'd better hit a six-iron and it came off lovely," he said. "Just hit it a bit higher to take a bit of distance off it and it landed perfect on the green, ran out and just caught the right edge. Eliminated the putting on that one!"
Westwood's ace lifted him to three under and one ahead of McIlroy, who was nicely placed at three under with four to play until a wayward drive at the par-five sixth careered out of bounds and led to a double-bogey seven.
McIlroy did get one of those shots back at his final hole, and he said: "I felt like I played okay. I could have made a few more birdies, and then I made seven on the sixth hole, which was not ideal. I hit a tee shot just a little bit left and the wind took it out of bounds.
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"But it was nice to birdie the last, and my dad bettered me by five shots, so it actually turned out to be a decent day. His goal for the week was to better me by four a day, 16 for the week, so I think we have a decent chance."
The McIlroy's combined score of seven under left them five shots off the pace in the team competition, which is co-led by Fox and Australian cricket legend Shane Warne, while comedy superstar Bill Murray and DA Points, former winners of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, kicked off their bid for a unique double with an impressive 62.
