Henning turns back the clock
Tour veteran shoots 62 to take a one shot lead after round one
NIC Henning produced a spectacular blast-fromthe-past nine-under-par 62 to take the first round lead in the Joburg Open yesterday.
The 45-year-old hasn’t won on tour for 10 years but his golf on Royal Johannesburg and Kensington’s par-71 West Course was nothing short of brilliant. He birdied the first two holes, and then holed a seven-iron from 169 metres at No3 for an eagle two. He reached the turn in just 29 strokes, he had four twos on his card, and the 62 equals the course record.
“The seven-iron was hit just perfect and never looked like missing so I was four under par for three holes and you can’t ask for a better start than that,” said Henning, a multiple winner on the Sunshine Tour in his 20s and 30s, and who famously beat Darren Clarke in a play-off at Royal Cape to capture the 1999 Vodacom Players Championship, in a tournament line-up that included Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.
Henning hasn’t had the results he would have liked for a number of years, but said in the last few months he’s started to find form again. “So it feels fantastic to shoot 62 and prove to myself I can still play. I stayed calm out there, and with every shot I just stayed in the moment.
“I’ve been posting some low numbers with my mates in social games, only to make 72 or 74 in the tournaments and they have been asking what’s wrong.”
Well, he says he still feels young and maybe there is nothing wrong, with still a lot of good golf to come from him.
Nic is the son of the late Graham Henning, who was the professional at Wanderers for many years, while Graham’s three brothers were all wellknown and talented professional golfers – Brian, Allan (a former SA Open champion and for many years the resident professional here at Royal Johannesburg) and the late Harold who won over 50 tournaments around the world. So Nic would have made the family name proud yesterday.
Meanwhile, a big-hitting beanpole Belgian, a grip-it-andrip-it South African and a man whose caddie is also his wife all shot 63s to find themselves just one back of Henning.
The eight-under-par returns by Antwerp-born Thomas Pieters, Titch Moore and Tjaart van der Walt (Vicki van der Walt not only carries his golf bag but on the greens does an excellent job reading the lines) were also all compiled on the West Course, which is the more forgiving of the two lay-outs used for this € 1,3-million event at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club.
On the longer, tougher East Course yesterday South Africa’s Wallie Coetsee and Sam Hutsby of England signed for impressive six-under-par 66s to top the leaderboard there.
On a day of extraordinary low scoring, SA pair Dean Burmester and Garth Mulroy and Australia’s Jason Scrivener posted 64s on the West, and Joachim B Hansen (Denmark), Scotland’s Scott Henry, Korea’s Byeong-hun An, Spain’s Jorge Campillo, England’s Simon Dyson and SA’s Andrew Curlewis 65s on the same course, while defending champion George Coetzee was home in 66.
Not only is there the equivalent of R2,7-million up for grabs for the winner here, but the top three on the leaderboard who are not otherwise exempt for this year’s Open Championship at St Andrews in July will earn coveted spots in the world’s oldest and most famous Major.
“That’s why I’m here – to win and get into the Open,” said 23-year-old Pieters who turned professional in 2013 following a stellar college career in the US, winning the 2012 NCAA Championship which is the biggest college event in America.
“I’ve been playing well this year and am happy with the way I’m moving the ball through the air,” added the almost 2m tall Belgian who at West’s 489m par-5 15th hole after a massive drive only needed an eight-iron for his approach and hit it to 10 feet before rolling in the putt for an eagle three.
The highlight of Moore’s round – he’s also in the long-hitting ‘gorilla’ category – was a hole-in-one at the tiny par-3 98m fifth hole where his wedge – as he put it – “was the perfect yardage, and never looked like missing”.
The players switch courses for today’s second round in this European Tour event co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour.