Louis de Jager overcame a double-bogey on Thursday in the first round of the DP World Tour’s acciona Open de España presented by Madrid at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid in Madrid, as he carded a one-under 70 for a share of 12th.
He made his double on his opening hole of the day, the 10th, which was not what he was looking for, but he soon regained those dropped shots with birdies on 12 and 13. He turned in level-par, and made two birdies and a bogey on the front nine as he ended up five strokes off the lead.
Up front, local Angel Hidalgo carded a stunning six-under 65 which included a pair of bogeys on 16 and 17. That put him two strokes clear of Julien Guerrier of France, Austria’s Sepp Straka and Sam Bairstow of England. De Jager was one of 17 players on one-under.
Jaco Prinsloo had a level-par 71 to open up his campaign, while Dylan Frittelli had a one-over 72 for a share of 41st. Oliver Bekker was on two-over, and George Coetzee was on three-over together with Thomas Aiken and Jacques Kruyswijk.
Jayden Schaper was on four-over in a share of 100th, and Pieter Moolman, Casey Jarvis and Darren Fichardt all cared five-over-par 76 for a share of 117th. Dylan Mostert brought up the rear of the South African challenge with his opening six-over leaving him in a share of 130th.
