By Michael Vlismas

There has only been one South African winner in the history of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, but this week four South Africans are hoping to change that.

Louis Oosthuizen, Herman Loubser, Michael Hollick and Richard Sterne all made a strong start in Thursday’s first round of this prestigious DP World Tour event played over the three courses of the Old Course, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie.

The South African quartet are just two shots off the lead held by England’s Matthew Jordan, American Ryan Brehm and the Netherlands’ Darius van Driel on nine-under-par.

Of this quartet, only Sterne has come closest to winning this title when he finished tied second in 2016. His first round of 65 came at Kingsbarns on Thursday.

Oosthuizen took advantage of a calm day at Carnoustie and opened with six birdies in his first nine holes on his way to a 65.

And both Hollick and Loubser arrived in Scotland in good form having won tournaments on the Sunshine Tour within a week of each other in August. Hollick scored his 65 on the Old Course, while Loubser was at nearby Kingsbarns.

The South Africans will be looking to maintain this challenge as they hope to add to Branden Grace’s 2012 triumph in this tournament.

Further down the leaderboard, Dylan Naidoo gave himself a solid start with an opening five-under-par 67 on the Old Course.

“The conditions were surprisingly good. I thought we’d get a bit more rain but it passed us. There’s wasn’t a lot of wind, the pins were in accessible spots so, yes, the scoring was low on the Old Course in particular,” said Naidoo.

“I played well on the front nine but the putts just didn’t fall, and then I played well on the back nine.

“I think five-under is a good score. It’s not an unbelievable score, but I’m happy with it, especially in light of the fact that you never know what’s going to happen the rest of the week with the weather. You need to take advantage.”