A double-bogey on Thursday, Christiaan Bezuidenhout carded a two-under-par 69 in the opening round of the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California.
Bezuidenhout started his round with a birdie on the first, and then made bogey on the fourth. He picked up two more birdies on the fifth and seventh to turn in two-under 33, and then birdied 10, 17 and 18. However, he dropped a shot on the 14th, and, when he went from bunker to bunker on the par-three 16th, he made a double there.
In the end, his two-under total was good for a share of 15th, five off the pace which was set at seven-under-par by Patrick Cantlay. Cantlay led by one from Australians Jason Day and Cam Davis.
It was a round which was characterised by the return to tournament play by Tiger Woods, who battled his way to a one-over-par 72, which included a stone-cold shank on his second shot on the 18th.
Also in trouble after the first round was Rory McIlroy, who opened with a three-over 74 which included a pair of consecutive double-bogeys.
