F1 finale: Start your engines!

MICHAEL PALMER made light work of proceedings as he blitzed his way to a 63 and three-shot lead in the first round of the Cape Open

The 27-year-old is followed on the leaderboard by defending champion Brandon Stone (66), the highest-ranked player in the field.

Jacques Kruyswijk, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Matthew Carvell share third place after rounds of 67, while a group of eight players are a further shot back.

“It’s by far the best round of my career. I just trusted my game and enjoyed it out there,” Palmer said. “I set out to be aggressive and it paid dividends. I used a driver off the tee and most times I found the fairway. I was left with short approach shots and my wedge and putter took care of the rest.

“I think going off early in the morning helped my cause a lot. Conditions were just about perfect which allowed for an attacking mindset and never once did I hold back. I’ll be doing much the same for round two and seeing where it takes me.”

Palmer, who joined the pro ranks last year, could be in line for his first tournament win if he his able to maintain his form over the next three days.

If he were to win the Cape Town Open he would pocket R237 750.

“I’m not thinking about what could be, my focus is on playing one round at a time, and if that sees me walk off the green on Sunday afternoon as the winner, then I’ll be adding up the sums and for sure I’ll be a proud guy. But I’ve got another 54 holes to play before then,” said Palmer.

His round was without blemish. He made a par, birdie, par start, then reeled off four birdies on the bounce and two further pars for an outward loop of five-under 31.

Palmer then birdied three of the next four holes to end the day on 63.

SA Open champion Stone was happy with his day’s work.

“Being the defending champion is a new experience for me and I think I acquitted myself well,” he said. “I feel I haven’t been playing badly of late, it’s just that I haven’t played well. This was definitely one of my better rounds.

“I got the putter rolling quite nicely during t he round but I did make a shaky three-putt at the first which got me fired up after one hole.”