South African George Coetzee moved straight into First Class to record his lowest score in nearly three years on day one of the Turkish Airlines Open at Belek.
The 30-year old Pretoria-born golfer recorded a seven under par 64 for a one stroke lead in superb scoring conditions on the Regnum Carya Resort course.
It is Coetzee’s lowest European Tour score since a similar 64 in the opening round of the 2014 Qatar Masters in Doha.
Coetzee was actually eight under through 16 hole with the current World No. 160s only blemish in dropping a shot at the par four 17th.
The three-time European Tour winner initially had not qualified for the $US 7m event given he is ranked 85th on the Tour’s Race to Dubai money list and with Coetzee finding his way into the Turkish field following a number of high-profile withdrawals including the Ryder Cup trio of Henrik Stenson, Rory McIlroy and Hazeltine winning hero Patrick Reed.
South African jumps straight into first class at the Turkish Airlines Open. (Photo – www.europeantour.com)
“I just feel really lucky to get into this event this week and I’m just trying to make the most of it,” he said.
“I’ve been missing a lot of cuts but actually playing better the past three or four weeks. The swing started to click a couple of weeks ago and I started shooting better scores and hitting better shots, so it was just a question of putting everything together.
“I had been excited in the build-up to this week and I’m just happy with the way things are going in my game and mentally, and that shows on the golf course.
“I’m playing better, I’m in a better mood but then I wasn’t expecting to go out and shoot 64 but I’m really happy.”
If Coetzee were to win he would jump to 13th on the Race to Dubai.
Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen didn’t drop a shot in a round of a six under par 65 to be in second place and as the 27-year old also chases a fourth Tour title.
“I felt like the last few weeks, my game has been really good,” he said.
“I felt like I played really, really nicely in Portugal and couldn’t really get it going but felt like I was playing really well.
“Then yesterday in the Pro-Am I was playing really, really well also, so I felt like something good was going to come soon.”
The foursome of Jorge Campillo, and thanks to the Spaniard’s hole-in-one at the par three, 14th hole along with China’s Haotong Li, Austrian Bernd Wiesberger and Italy’s Matteo Manassero are tied in third place with five under par 66s.
Masters champion, Danny Willett produced a roller-roaster round that included six birdies, two bogeys and a 10th hole double bogey to be sharing 21st place on two under par.
Willett arrived in Turkey lying second on the Race to Dubai and can regain the leading money list position by finishing fifth or higher in this week’s 78-player field.
