Johannesburg – South Africa’s Brandon Stone fired a superb opening six-under 66 in the first round of the Ras al Khaimah Championship at Al Hamra GC, in the United Arab Emirates, on Thursday.
The solid effort of the three-time DP Tour (DPWT) event winner saw him share third place with American Johannes Veerman and Belgian Thomas Detry. Leading the way on seven-under 65 are the pair of Sebastian Heisele of Germany and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson.
Beginning his round on the 10th, Stone found his first birdie of the day at the par four 13th. The 28-year-old picked up another shot at the par four 16th.
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After making the turn in two-under, Stone immediately found another birdie at the par four first. His first birdie on a par five on the day came at the third, before Stone sealed off an impressive first round with birdies at the par three seventh and par five eighth.
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Stone said after his round: “Today was without a doubt the best putting round I’ve had all year so far, I putted beautifully, I holed a lot of 15-20 footers, a lot of four-five footers here and there too which is great.”
“I just played solid, was never in trouble, never stressing, hit a lot of greens, gave myself a lot of opportunities today and I was the lucky one to be able to convert a few of them.”
In a tie for eighth on four-under 68 were Shaun Norris and George Coetzee. The 35-year-old Coetzee’s round, in particular, was a bit of a rollercoaster affair with seven birdies, a bogey and a double bogey.
A further stroke adrift were Richard Sterne and Thriston Lawrence on three-under 69 in a tie for 17th. Oliver Bekker was in 36th position on two-under 70.
Justin Walters carded a tidy one-under 71 for 44th position.
Darren Fichardt and Zander Lombard were on level par 72, which saw the duo settle for 68th place.
SA Open champion Daniel van Tonder signed for a one-over 73 in 84th spot on the leaderboard.
Jacques Kruyswijk was last of the 11 SA players in action, as he struggled to a five-over 77 as he shares 122nd spot on the leaderboard.
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