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Packed leaderboard chasing victory in Gary and Vivienne Player Challenge

Writer's picture: Sunshine TourSunshine Tour
Jacques P de Villiers. Tyrone Winfield/Sunshine Tour

England-based James Mack shot a six-under-par 66 on Wednesday to lead the Gary & Vivienne Player Challenge after the first round at Kyalami Country Club but there is a group of strong South African Sunshine Tour talent chasing him down just one stroke behind.

Simon du Plooy, Jacques P de Villiers, Ruan de Smidt, Christiaan Burke, Martin Rohwer and Jonathan Broomhead all posted five-under-par 67s on Wednesday to ensure Mack has plenty of challengers in his rearview mirror.

De Villiers, whose only bogey came on the par-five 13th when he three-putted, said the key to doing well at Kyalami Country Club on Wednesday was shaping the ball on the 6 631-metre course with tight fairways.

“The fairways are very hard and they’re tight, so it’s tough to hit them with the ball bouncing so much. You’ve got to be able to shape the ball off the tee and I did that well today,” De Villiers said.

“I also putted really well and even though I made four birdies and an eagle, I still had a few horseshoes, including one that came right back at me. But it was a really solid round, I played well today in conditions that were very nice. It wasn’t too cold this morning and the wind didn’t blow too much either.”

The highlight of De Villiers’ season thus far has been finishing third in the FBC Zambia Open, which was then followed by a long break. His finishes since the Sunshine Tour returned to action have been 20th, 43rd, 35th and 37th but the Schoeman Park golfer still feels his game is well-toned as he looks towards the co-sanctioned events in the summer.

“I’ve been working hard on my swing with Doug Wood and the changes are there or thereabouts. But the game has been trending in the right direction for sure over the last couple of weeks. It’s all preparation now for the big events on the summer swing,” the 34-year-old said.

Mack started his round on the par-four 10th hole and immediately picked up a birdie. Two more birdies in a faultless back nine saw him go out in three-under, and he collected four more birdies on the front nine, although a bogey on the par-three fourth hole was a hiccup.

Ten other golfers are two shots behind on four-under-par.

Scores

66 - James Mack

67 - Simon du Plooy, Jacques P de Villiers, Ruan de Smidt, Christiaan Burke, Martin Rohwer, Jonathan Broomhead

68 - Stals Swart, Ruan Conradie, Luke Brown, Kyle Barker, Combrinck Smit, Nikhil Rama, Quintin Wilsnach, Malcolm Mitchell, Rourke van der Spuy, Brandon Meads

69 - Neil Schietekat, Thanda Mavundla, Andrew Williamson, Christian Kriek, Ethan Smith, Jake Redman, Kyle De Beer, Jean Hugo, Pierre Pellegrin

70 - Graham van der Merwe, Otto Van Buynder, Haydn Porteous, Ruan Korb, Fredrik From, Jaco Ahlers, Hennie O'Kennedy, Rhys West, Daniel van Tonder, CJ du Plessis, Wynand Dingle, Yurav Premlall

71 - Keelan van Wyk, LB Boshoff, Travis Ladner, Ruan Groenewald, Martin Vorster, Trevor Fisher Jnr, Robson Chinhoi, Dylan Naidoo, Christiaan Basson, Doug McGuigan, Heinrich Bruiners, Jovan Rebula, Albert Venter, Jacob Oakley

72 - Franklin Manchest, Adam Breen, Keagan Thomas, Joe Long, Jacques Blaauw, Gerhard Pepler, Danie Van Niekerk, Craig Ross, Thabiso Ngcobo, Estiaan Conradie, Samuel Simpson, Austin Bautista, Hennie Otto, Werner Deyzel, Brandon Pieters, Jacquin Hess, Njoroge Kibugu

73 - Trevor Mahoney, Musiwalo Nethunzwi, Therion Nel, Kyle McClatchie, Ricky Hendler, MJ Viljoen, Jaco Van Zyl, Keenan Davidse, Keegan Mclachlan, Makhetha Mazibuko, Lyle Pedro, Altin van der Merwe, Ulrich van den Berg, Allister de Kock, Callum Mowat, DK Kim, Jason Roets, Luke Jerling, Rupert Kaminski

74 - Alex Haindl, Ronald Rugumayo, Nick Cunningham, Slenda Sithebe, Toto Thimba Jnr, Stefan Wears-Taylor, Lyle Rowe, Terence Boardman, Keelan Africa, Andre De Decker, Regan Steyn

75 - Steven Le Roux, Lwazi Gqira, Brandon Gildenhuys, Conner Mackenzie, Colin Nel, Mike Maile, Jared Harvey, Mohammad Rauf Mandhu, Bradford Vaughan, Irvin Mazibuko, Dayne Moore, Ryan Van Velzen, Tristin Galant, Stuart Krog

76 - Tumelo Molloyi, James Pennington, Gary Kemp, Sean Bradley, Gregory Mckay, Matthew Spacey, Jean-Paul Strydom, Sentanio Minnie

77 - Umar Davids, Thabang Simon, Shaahid Mahmed, Hayden Griffiths, Leon Vorster, Christopher Long

78 - Jordan Duminy, Herman Loubser, Brandon-Jude Rennie

79 - Jabulane Mabilane, Merrick Bremner, David Amm

80 - Gerard du Plooy, David Masole, Vaughn van Deventer

81 - Dylan O'Leary

83 - Jastice Mashego, Shaydon Johnson

85 - Kouassi Jean Romaric Djezou

86 - Richard Kruger

James Mack. Tyrone Winfield/Sunshine Tour

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