Golf Update: George Coetzee surges to early lead at Austrian Golf Open
South African golfer George Coetzee has shone through on the first day of the Austrian Golf Open on Friday by posting a 7 under par 65 to claim a lead of one stroke. The tournament is taking place in Diamond Country Club in Austria which is located some 35 km away from Vienna. The event is a men’s professional golf tournament on the European Tour, carrying a winner’s prize of €750,000, which is a significant reduction from previous year’s sum of €1,300,000.
George Coetzee has strongly elevated his prospects of retaining his European Tour card next season in the first round of the Austrian Golf Open. He is headed towards the second round, which is taking place today. The sole purpose of this lead is to raise his rankings in the race to Dubai. He is currently standing at 142nd spot, but he needs to finish in the top 115 to make the cut in next year’s tour card.
Coetzee executed his plan by giving a splendid performance on Thursday. He carded eight birdies and one bogey on the first day. According to the player, he is going fine with his game and is confident that if he continues with the same performance, he will achieve his desired goals well within time. Although, this is the very first time for the South African to play in Austria but he is demonstrating great admiration for the place, especially for the course.
Admiration for the course is natural as the Diamond Course is the one of the most beautiful courses in Austria with numerous sand bunkers, water hazards, perfect undulating greens and mesmerizing beauty.
According to experts, Coetzee’s first round game was quite satisfactory and it was hard to say that it was his first time in Austria. He found the greens easily and it seemed as if the player had an acquaintance with the course. Coetzee has to demonstrate this sort of relevance with every course on the European tour as this is the way he can retain the 2011 tour card.
Moving forward, the 24-year-old started his session with teeing off from the 10th hole of the back nine. Since then, it was a blaze of fire and the scorecard showed four consecutive birdies on the scorecard for the player. The first session of birdies ended on the 16th hole. Coetzee bogeyed the 18th hole, although it was merely a par 3 but he resumed his powerful action play starting from the 4th tee. He birdied the 4th, 6th and 7th hole of the front nine. However Coetzee became gloomy when his try for an eagle failed and he had to go home with a birdie on the 7th hole.
Overall, it was a good start for the golfer as his putting was precise and this gave him a lot of confidence for the next round.
Two members of the European Ryder Cup team were seen on the field but they demonstrated some mixed results. Pebbles beach winner Graeme McDowell carded 69, while the Omega European Masters winner Jimenez bogeyed the last two holes and carded a 72.
This is it for the first day of the Austrian Golf Open which was took place at the Diamond Country Club on Thursday. George Coetzee surged to an early lead by one stroke. He was followed by José Manuel Lara and Terry Pilkadaris .Both the players posted a 6 under. According to media reports, the day started out brilliantly, however George was one of the least expected players to climb up the leaders’ board. Although he gave a splendid performance but chances are that he might not be able to continue it in the second round.
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