Nicolas Colsaerts clinches mammoth lead with a record opening round at Volvo Golf Champions
Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts pulled in a record levelling round of nine-under, 64 in the opening round of the Volvo Golf Champions, in South Africa, to grab a comprehensive lead on the leaderboard.
Playing the treacherous The Links at Fancourt, Colsaerts carded no fewer than seven birdies on the back nine alone to amass a lead which has only been surpassed seven times in the European Tour history.
"This is probably one of the best, if not the best round I have played," said Colsaerts. “On a course like this, it is quite special".
However, this will barely deter the rest of the field at the Invite-only event on the European Tour as the sturdy Belgian has only pulled in one title in his last 200 starts on the European Tour.
He has, time and again, shown the tendency to falter over the weekend, heading in the final rounds.
Colsaerts' success mainly depended on his crafty use of the irons on a course which turned out to be quite receptive in the morning.
He had two runs of consecutive birdies in the 18-hole stretch using mostly the 8-iron and the 9-iron. He is likely to putt those irons into good use for the rest of the three rounds in the event.
Colsaerts added, “The greens are quite receptive, so if you hit good shots on the greens, the ball is going to stop pretty much where it lands".
He further said, "I'm not saying it's easier, but I think when the conditions are like they were today, you can shoot a low number like this".
The Belgian pulled in another three birdies on the front nine and dropped just one shot at par-four, 6th, the only bogey for the day.
The only serious challenge Colsaerts faced in the day was from the grizzled Irishman Padraig Harrington, who demonstrated a spectacular form earlier in the day.
The Irishman also had a brilliant day at Fancourt, where he amassed no fewer than six birdies in all before falling for a dreadful double-bogey on the last hole, finishing for a joint fifth.
"Such is life," said the Irishman, who is working his way up the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and hopes to break into top-50 again.
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