Christiaan Bezuidenhout in six-way tie for lead at South African Open
Christiaan Bezuidenhout shares the lead at the South African Open with Jacques Kruyswijk, Dean Burmester, Matthias Schwab, Aron Zemmer and Ruan Korb; watch the second round live on Friday from 11am on Sky Sports Golf
By Ali Stafford
Last Updated: 04/12/20 6:46pm
Christiaan Bezuidenhout made the prefect start to his bid for back-to-back European Tour victories after grabbing a share of the early lead at the South African Open.
Latest leaderboard
Bezuidenhout, who registered his second European Tour title at the Alfred Dunhill Championship on Sunday, followed his victory by carding an opening-round 67 at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City.
The world No 41 mixed six birdies with a lone bogey to get to five under and sit in a six-way tie at the top of the leaderboard alongside Dean Burmester, Matthias Schwab, Jacques Kruyswijk, Aron Zemmer and Ruan Korb.
Starting on the back nine, Bezuidenhout followed back-to-back birdies from the tenth by picking up shots at the 13th and 16th and then making successive gains around the turn.
The highest-ranked player in the field missed an eight-footer to save par at the third and failed to convert birdie chances over two of his last three holes, while Burmester held the outright advantage until bogeying his final hole of the day.
Schwab made a bogey-free start and Kruyswijk posted consecutive birdies from the 14th to also get to five under, while Korb was the pick of the afternoon starters and made six birdies in a seven-hole stretch on his way to a share of the lead.
Dylan Frittelli sits a shot of the pace despite birdieing seven of his opening ten holes, with Mathieu Pavon also in tied-seventh after a birdie-birdie finish took him to four under.
England's Toby Tree leads the British interest and is in the group on three under, while Scotland's Scott Jamieson is three of the pace and former Ryder Cup star Jamie Donaldson opened with a one-under 71.
Watch the South African Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues on Friday from 11am on Sky Sports Golf.
