Golf-Bekker, Schietekat lead after first round at SA Open at Sun City

Home players Oliver Bekker and Neil Schietekat both carded seven under-par rounds of 65 for a share of the lead after the opening day of the 111th South African Open at the Gary Player Country Club on Thursday. It is being played under the banner of the local South African Sunshine Tour.

Home players Oliver Bekker and Neil Schietekat both carded seven under-par rounds of 65 for a share of the lead after the opening day of the 111th South African Open at the Gary Player Country Club on Thursday. They hold a one-shot lead over compatriots Bryce Easton and Lyle Rowe in a field of 156 mostly local players that has been decimated by withdrawals following the international travel chaos caused by the discovery of the Omicron COVID-19 variant last week.

That led to the tournament losing its status as a European Tour event and the prize money slashed to $500,000. It is being played under the banner of the local South African Sunshine Tour. The South African Open is golf’s second-oldest national championship, having first been played in 1893.

 

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