De Jager claims first-round lead

South Africa’s Louis de Jager claimed a one-shot lead after the opening day of the Tshwane Open as home players looked to continue their dominance of the event.

Initially played at Copperleaf before switching to Pretoria Country Club in 2015, the tournament has produced four South African winners in five years, with George Coetzee, Charl Schwartzel and Dean Burmester the victors at the current venue.

Burmester and Schwartzel are competing at this week’s WGC-Mexico Championship instead, but 2015 champion Coetzee is in the field and the pre-tournament favourite carded an opening 67 to lie three off the pace set by compatriot De Jager.

De Jager, whose best European Tour result to date came when he finished third in the inaugural Tshwane Open in 2013, birdied three of his last four holes to complete a flawless seven-under 64 and lead by one from Thomas Aiken, Julian Suri and Felipe Aguilar.

Rotherham’s Jonathan Thomson finished in a share of 24th place after day one with a three-under-par 68.

Starting at the 10th, he gave a shot straight back at 13 after birdieing 12, but three birdies in the next five holes had him ‘out’ in three under.

His front nine began badly with a double bogey six and he also dropped a shot at five. However, he gained shots at holes two, six and nine.

Sheffield’s Danny Willett, the 2016 Masters champion who has slipped to 210th in the world rankings and has missed the cut in all three of his events so far this season, is six shots off the pace after two birdies and one bogey in an opening 70.

Willett, too, started on 10 and parred all of the back nine holes. He went one under with a birdie at the first, gave it back at five, and then birdied eight.