South Africa’s Christiaan Burke and Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra took advantage of a receptive East Course at Royal Johannesburg and signed for rounds of 63 to lead the first round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship on Thursday.
They head the field on nine under par and are one stroke clear of the South African duo of former Alfred Dunhill Championship winner Brandon Stone and Thriston Lawrence.
The first round produced a tantalising leaderboard that also includes another former champion in Branden Grace just two strokes off the lead, and a group of former champions in Louis Oosthuizen, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Shaun Norris, Marcel Siem and Pablo Larrazabal joining Aldrich Potgieter and Dean Burmester four shots behind the leaders.
It’s the kind of quality leaderboard that, as well as he played with an opening stretch of six consecutive birdies and a closing eagle, sent Burke straight to the driving range after his round.
“My ball striking wasn’t there at all today so that’s why I needed some range work, but I’ve never seen my putter this hot,” said Burke. “I had a good start and only figured out after the 7th hole that I made six birdies in a row.
“Then I had back-to-back bogeys on 15 and 16 and my caddie said just finish strong. So we did with a birdie and an eagle. I like this golf course. I play here a lot and it suits my game.”
His co-leader Chacarra was just as pleased with his start.
“I played really good golf. I’ve been playing well but the score hasn’t been there. But I trusted the plan I have with my caddie and I think we did a tremendous job. The course is playing a little easier being so soft, but you still have to hit the shots out there. With the soft greens you can attack a little more than you normally would.”
Just one stroke behind them, both Stone and Lawrence didn’t drop a single shot. Stone in particular was delighted with his putting performance as he chases a second Alfred Dunhill Championship title.
“That was amazing. It’s the first time my putter’s worked in about 18 months to two years. Hopefully that continues,” Stone said.
“The goal for me was to go out and play with a bit more freedom and trust my natural ability, and almost channel that inner child that used to play this course when I was a kid.”
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Photo: Luke Walker/Getty Images
Article Link: Burke, Chacarra lead Alfred Dunhill Championship