Louis de Jager was on three-under-par when play was suspended on Thursday in the first round of the DP World Tour’s flagship tournament, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Golf Club in Virginia Water, England.
De Jager still had the difficult par-five 18th to complete to improve that score, and he was in a share of 21st together with European Ryder Cup stars Viktor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowrey, amongst others.
He was five shots off the sparkling eight-under-par 64 posted by Denmark’s Marcus Helligkilde. The Dane was two shots clear of Matt Fitzpatrick and former SA Open champion Richie Ramsay of Scotland. There were eight players in a share of fourth on five-under-par.
One stroke behind De Jager was Zander Lombard on two-under. He completed his first round with six birdies – including four in a row from the 10th – and four bogeys.
Current South African Open champion Thriston Lawrence was in a share of 46th on one-under. Oliver Bekker was on level-par in a share of 65th, and Justin Walters and Hennie du Plessis were on one-over in a share of 84th.
JC Ritchie was on three-over and Ockie Strydom was on five-over.
