America’s Austin Cherichella played himself into a three-way share of the lead in Tuesday’s opening round of the 10th Betway Big Easy Tour event of the season, thanks to an eventful four-under-par 68 at Ebotse Links in Benoni.
“I played well today; played smart golf, I felt,” noted Cherichella. “The pins were really tough out there in the corners but I played it middle of the green and the putts fell in. So, it was nice.
“I took a putting lesson when I returned from the Christmas break and I think that helped a little bit. But, I kind of came in this week with no expectations because I’ve been really struggling with the putter, so it felt really cool to see some putts go in.”
Cherichella shares that top spot with Tristan Leonard and Bradley De Beer who were just as impressive on day one of this last regular-season event before the play-off and final.
Leonard’s near-perfect round consisted of six birdies and a double while De Beer had a similar number of birdies which were accompanied by a pair of unwanted bogeys.
Just a single shot off the lead, amateurs Ethan Gough and Vuyisani Makama played themselves into a six-man tie for fourth.
“This is my second Big Easy start of the season,” said Makama.
“It’s a good experience and it helps that GolfRSA can create these opportunities and give us invites to help improve the golf and see where we are against these big guys.
“I felt like my first round was decent. I felt like the putter let me down a few times but overall, it’s been a solid day.”
This 10th event of the season is the last regular tournament of the season before the play-off and the final. Only the top 50 players on the Order of Merit after this week’s event will be eligible for the play-off.
From there, only the top 30 players on the standings will go on to play the Final where Sunshine Tour cards for the next season will be awarded to the top 12 players on the final Order of Merit.
The Betway Big Easy Tour is the Sunshine Tour’s feeder circuit and enjoys the support of the legendary Ernie Els, among other patrons.
Scores
68 - Tristan Leonard
68 - Austin Cherichella, Bradley De Beer
69 - Ethan Gough
69 - Vuyisani Makama, Oliver Goldhill, Andre De Decker, Kian Coetzer, Philip Geerts
70 - Hannes Strooh
70 - Regan Steyn, Jake Bolton
71 - Jordan Wessels
71 - Andre Van Zyl, Lyle Pedro
72 - Nicko Venter
72 - Sean Howell, Lwazi Gqira, Leon Visser, Travis Procter, Travis Ladner, Therion Nel
73 - Dillon Germshuys
73 - Jonathan Ackerman, Thanda Mavundla, Andrew McLardy, Andrew Williamson, Jason Froneman, Jaden Deltel, Chase Paton, Matthew Dennis, Louis Liebenberg
74 - Reece Mc Kain
74 - Richard Joubert, Liam Ross, Shaheed Patel
75 - Ruben Van Der Berg
75 - Matthew Bennett, Joe Sullivan, Grant Ferreira, Drikus Joubert, Matthew Rushton, Thabang Simon, Sean Cronje, Keagan Crosbie, Shaunak Rama
76 - Matt Millar
76 - Ronald Rugumayo, Teboho Sefatsa, Tiger Adams, Gerard Hartman
77 - John Palm
77 - Tiago Jorge Swart, Vaughn van Deventer, Tumelo Molloyi, Mark Maart, Lincon Denzy Cele
78 - Ricco Motsa
78 - Romano Saincic, LB Boshoff, Khanya Mkhize, Adam Breen
79 - Jonathan Waschefort
79 - Irvin Mosate wa Mazibuko, Brandon Gildenhuys, Jarryd Govender, Wandre Snyman, Sabelo Xolani Majola
80 - Kael Strydom
80 - Carl Mwale
82 - Richard Kruger
82 - Brandon-Jude Rennie
85 - Tawriq Abrahams
87 - Steven Le Roux