Tim Clark starts strong at Nelson Mandela Championship
The much-awaited Nelson Mandela Championship finally teed off at the Royal Durban Golf Club. The course finally dried out as the players took to the field on Saturday.
The tournament is reduced to 36-holes and the par is also shortened by seven strokes. Some holes have been shortened and as a result of that par-72 hole course has been converted into par-65.
South African Tim Clark shot a magnificent round of 5-under 60 at the Royal Durban Golf Club to take a club house lead after the opening round.
Clark was very calm and steady, as he opened the round with a par, which was followed by a birdie on the second hole. There was a slight slip-up from him as he bogeyed the 6th hole, but from there on, he shot a solid round.
He birdied the last two holes on the first nine to go two-under. On the back nine, South African was just magnificent as he carded three straight birdies from 13th to 15th hole to go five-under.
“It wasn’t that easy out there, but I was amazed at how good the greens were with all the rain they had,” said Clark. “The greens were pretty firm and obviously great to putt”.
“I made some good putts and that’s really what gives me this score. Obviously I gave myself a lot of chances, I made some good twos on some of those par threes”.
This has been a very influential performance from the South African, the conditions were not easy as the course was still a little wet.
However, the way he calculated his strokes was just a treat to watch, because it never really looked as if his round was not under his control.
Clark knows he cannot afford hiccups and he will need to shoot another low round on Sunday in order to start his 2013 tour with a victory.
“It’s just the same really, just come out and try to make birdies,” he added. “If it is going to be a two round tournament, you’ve got to go low".
It is a 36-hole tournament and with 18-holes already played, nobody can afford a lapse in concentration as it could prove to be very costly.
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