Brown close to cracking the golf code as he shares lead in Telkom PGA Championship
Everybody wants to know the secret to Luke Brown’s current form on the Sunshine Tour. And quite frankly, so does Brown.
“People have asked what I have done differently to suddenly be at the top of the leaderboard doing well. If I knew I would have done it four years ago,” Brown said after opening with a nine-under-par 63 at Country Club Johannesburg to share the first-round lead in the Telkom PGA Championship.
Kyle de Beer, winner of the recent Rwanda Open, joined him later in the afternoon with a 63 of his own.
Brown has found himself at the top of a leaderboard yet again in a season where he’s already won twice. And he insists he’s done nothing different this year.
“It’s not one specific thing, maybe just a little bit of everything adding up. I’ve always found that if you’re putting better, you make more of your par and birdie putts, so it doubles up everything,” he said.
He certainly took advantage of playing his home course and added two eagles in his round as he now chases a victory in one of South Africa’s most prestigious tournaments.
“The Telkom PGA Championship is the second-oldest tournament in South Africa. It’s iconic. Just to get to play in it is really nice, and to be playing well is even better. The driver worked well for me today. It’s not a long course, so if you hit it straight you can give yourself a lot of chances from there. So, with driving it well I gave myself a lot of wedge shots which I hit quite well.”
Brown and De Beer are one stroke clear of the trio of defending champion Deon Germishuys, Kieron van Wyk and Tyran Snyders.
Samuel Simpson, the current Sunshine Tour Courier Guy Order of Merit leader, opened with a 65 and is in a four-way tie with Louis Albertse, former Telkom PGA Championship winner George Coetzee and Frenchman Pierre Viallaneix on seven under par.
“What a venue. To see it in full tournament condition is really cool,” said Simpson. “I enjoyed my group playing with Dean (Burmester) for the first time and Louis (Albertse). They definitely pulled the group forward and we ended up all playing pretty solid and I drew off that. It’s a pretty special event and I am happy to be in the mix. Hopefully I can have another low round tomorrow.”
Scores
63 - Luke Brown
63 - Kyle De Beer
64 - Kieron van Wyk
64 - Deon Germishuys, Tyran Snyders
65 - Samuel Simpson
65 - Louis Albertse, George Coetzee, Pierre Viallaneix
66 - Ethan Smith
66 - Ricky Hendler, Tristen Strydom, Daniel van Tonder, Joe Sullivan, Keenan Davidse
67 - Benjamin Van Wyk
67 - Benjamin Follett-Smith, Jaco Prinsloo, Dean Burmester, Malcolm Mitchell, Jaco Ahlers, Thomas Spreadborough, Steven Le Roux, Gabriel Morgan, Warwick Purchase, Jean-Paul Strydom
68 - Travis Ladner
68 - Jbe' Kruger, Daniel Cronje, Louis de Jager, Jacques Kruyswijk, Stephen Ferreira, Kian Rose, Quintin Wilsnach, Dayne Moore, Njoroge Kibugu
69 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi
69 - Travis Procter, Jacques Blaauw, Trevor Fisher Jnr, James Mack, Graham van der Merwe, Kyle Barker, Xander Basson, Makhetha Mazibuko, Jordan Burnand, Carlos Bustos, Martin Rohwer, Jason Roets, Justin Walters, Charl Barnard, Keelan Africa
70 - Rhys Enoch
70 - Karabo Mokoena, Benjamin Kedochim, Ockie Strydom, Keagan Thomas, Stuart Krog, Wynand Dingle, Cole Stevens, Albert Venter, Sentanio Minnie, Jacques Van der Merwe, Nikhil Rama, Haydn Porteous, Altin van der Merwe, Gerhard Pepler, Rupert Kaminski, Jaco Van Zyl, Rigardt Albertse
71 - Luke Jerling
71 - Herman Loubser, Robson Chinhoi, Oliver Goldhill, Shaydon Johnson, Adam Breen, Gustavo Silva, Vuyisani Makama, Simon du Plooy, Keegan Mclachlan, Ryan Van Velzen, Malan Potgieter, Stals Swart, Ryan van der Klis, Estiaan Conradie, Anthony Michael, Ruan de Smidt, Ryan Welsh
72 - Carter Rowe
72 - Jonathan Broomhead, Calvin Caldeira, Liam Grehan, Hayden Griffiths, Lyle Pedro, Dian Kruger, Tomas Gana, Ruan Korb, Gavin Vorster, Jacquin Hess, Callum Bruce, Tristan Leonard, Celestin Nsanzuwera
73 - Tafadzwa Nyamukondiwa
73 - Marcus Sandile Taylor, Conner Mackenzie, Jacques P de Villiers, Doug McGuigan, Mitch Phigeland, Jordan Duminy, Brandon Stone, JJ Senekal, Michael Bezuidenhout, Morris Schiefner, Franklin Manchest
74 - Ulrich van den Berg
74 - Brandon Pieters, Dillon Germshuys, Neil Schietekat, Callum Mowat, Matt Millar, Shaunak Rama, Dylan Mostert, Tyrone Ryan, Jaden Deltel
75 - Matthew Dennis
75 - Thabiso Ngcobo, Christo Roos, Agustin Errazuriz, Hennie O'Kennedy
76 - Otto Van Buynder
76 - Eric Wowor
77 - Tumelo Molloyi
77 - Heinrich Bruiners, Allister de Kock, Brandon-Jude Rennie, Lwazi Gqira, Terry Smith, Greg Bentley, Michael du Toit
78 - Matthew Spacey
78 - Keanu Pestana
79 - Rudy Whitfield
79 - Barend Knoetze, Mandla Dlamini Jnr, Rhys West, Martin Leon
80 - Jake Redman
80 - Rowan Lester, Astin Arthur, Tyran van Lieshout
82 - James Wiltshire
83 - Sandi Nqobile Qhena
83 - Bob Zhang
DSQ - Toto Thimba Jnr
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