South African Louis de Jager leads the D+D Real Czech Masters on the DP World Tour after a birdie on the final hole gave him a course record-equalling 64 and a one-shot advantage over two-time winner Thomas Pieters on Thursday.
The Belgian had looked set to lead after fighting off the challenge of defending champion Johannes Veerman until the Amercian dropped back into a four-way tie for third towards the end of his round.
De Jager had his first of seven birdies at the opening hole then three in a row from six to eight as he made the turn in 32. Further successes at 10 and 11 were followed by one at 15 which drew him level with Pieters at the top of the leaderboard. A birdie on the final hole was enough to give De Jager the lead by one shot after a round of 64 as he chases his first DP World Tour title.
De Jager admitted he had not found it easy. He said: “It was quite tricky out there today, the wind was from all different directions but me and my caddie made some good calls out there.
“I’ve been hitting the ball well, but I’ve gone back to old things, old tendencies that I keep falling back to. I worked a bit on those at the start of the week and I hit the ball really well today.”
Joburg Open champion Thirston Lawrence was the next best of the South Africans in the field with a four-under-par 68 giving him a share of 15th. Also on four-under was Mathiam Keyser, together with Durbanite-turned Slovak, Rory Sabbatini.
Thomas Aiken had a two-under 70 to start, as did Zander Lombard, while Wilco Nienaber opened with a one-under. Haydn Porteous was on one-over, and Hennie du Plessis battled to a three-over.
With reporting from DP World Tour
