Four-Day Recap of South African Open (Part 1)
So Ernie Els won the South African Open, but what happened in the four-day session? Here is a quick recap of all the happenings.
The tournament carrying a purse of €1000000 hit the Durban Country Club on Thursday, the 16th of December, 2010. It was an event co-sanctioned by the European and Sunshine Tour, thereby, a considerable number of Europeans were
seen teeing off on the African soil.
The first day was a package of bad weather and surprise. Retief Goosen and Alex Cejka shot a score of eight-under-par-64 against all odds and took the reins of the lead. Goosen who teed off at 7.30 am fired three birdies, one
eagle, and a single bogey on the back nine. Only fa ew minutes later the round was bought to a halt, owing to the strong rain, which transformed the bunkers into lakes. However, after a delay of two and a half hours, the round was continued, but this time
Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel stole the charge.
Both the South Africans compiled a scorecard of six birdies and one eagle, with a loss of one hole. The crowd cheered at the perfect strokes of Els.
While talking to the press Els said, “I missed quite a few putts on the front nine and was getting a little annoyed with myself, but I played a really solid back nine. You know I just hit the ball really nicely and that's something
I can take out of today.”
Unfortunately, Els could not enjoy the lead for long, as Goosen smashed three birdies and one eagle on the front and became the first round leader, with an edge of one stroke.
Goosen was delighted with the achievement. He told this to the press after the round. The South African said, "Obviously, that's the way you want to start. It went nicely for me yesterday, those four holes in the rain, when I managed
to get two birdies and then on the first this morning I got another one to keep the momentum going. I am off to a good start so hopefully I can try and start building on this tomorrow afternoon. Then we'll see what happens on Sunday if we play 36 or 18."
Meanwhile, Alex Cejka reeled eight birdies without a drop and took a share in the lead with the leader.
Two strokes below the leader were a group of six players that included Richard Stern of South Africa. The veteran picked up six birdies against one bogey and compiled a superb scorecard.
Just below him was Louis Oosthuizen. The Mossel Bay resident scored a 67 with the help of five birdies and stood firm with a commendable start. The Open Championship winner had been out of form and it was
evident from his earlier performance at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, where he missed the cut.
However, the next day kicked off at 6.30 in the morning, as the weather forecasts predicted rain later in the day. The forecast turned out to be accurate and once again, rain made the conditions tougher than they should have been.
Defying all odds, Els smashed a 65 and made it to the top of the leader board in the early hours of the day. The Big Easy helped seven birdies without a loss. However, it wasn’t the lowest score of the day! The lowest number was touched by James Kingston,
who eagled the eight-hole to add to his collection of six birdies.
Goosen failed to keep the lead locked and settled at a 68 with Romain Wattel on the rear. Oosthuizen jumped up a spot by sticking to his favourite number, 67 and shared it with Schwartzel, who unlike him faltered a bit with a
69.
Rain did not leave the course alone, but despite that, Els perked up and kept it vaulted until the weekend. This is it for the first half of four-day recap. For further details do read the next edition.
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