Jonathan Broomhead’s incredible start to the season continued as he claimed a share of the lead in Wednesday’s first round of the Gary & Vivienne Player Challenge, a tournament that is the Sunshine Tour’s tribute to the remarkable career of Gary Player and the Gary & Vivienne Player Foundation’s work to improve the lives of underprivileged children.
Broomhead opened with a round of seven-under-par 65 at Benoni Country Club to share the lead with fellow South Africans Jason Roets and Samuel Simpson.
They are two strokes clear of Graham van der Merwe, Malcolm Mitchell and Ricky Hendler.
Broomhead’s consistency at the start of the season has been phenomenal as he’s finished second and fourth in his first two tournaments.
He kept up that momentum on Wednesday with a bogey-free round that earned him a share of the lead.
What a round by Jono Broomhead to tie the first round lead in Benoni 🔥#GreatnessBeginsHere#SunshineTour#garyvivienneplayerchallenge pic.twitter.com/3LA3joIIOd
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) May 28, 2025
“I started on the 10th and made a nice birdie there, and then kept it going. I strung a few nice birdies along the way. I hit the ball well and made some good putts for most of the round,” said Broomhead.
It wasn’t the most that he thought he could’ve taken from the round, but Broomhead was still satisfied.
“It was a good day. It’s the first day and we’re playing just three rounds this week, not four like the last few weeks. So you need to adjust a bit. But I was hitting it nicely so I wasn’t getting too upset. It was still good golf even though some of the putts weren’t falling.”
The Benoni Country Club course is a fitting venue this week as the site where Gary Player won very early in his professional career on the Sunshine Tour.
And for Broomhead, the golf course is providing a strong test this week.
“The course is good and the greens are rolling really well. It’s firming up quite a bit, and some of the flags in certain positions on the greens can be tricky.”