On a day during which the wind came up, Charl Schwartzel made the most of an early start on Thursday to card an opening two-under-par 70 in the first round of the Asian Tour’s International Series Qatar.
He dropped just a single shot and made three birdies, as all the players struggled to protect any gains they made as the day wore on, and he ended up in a share of fifth place. He was just two strokes off the lead which, despite the conditions, came from a later starter, Suradit Yongcharoenchai of Thailand.
In a share of second, one stroke back on three-under-par, were Richard T Lee of Canada, Sangmoon Bae of Korea, and Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai.
Schwarztel shared fifth with, amongst others, compatriot Darren Fichardt, who also started early and found birdies much easier to come by. He made six, and he also had two bogeys and a double-bogey on his card.
Hennie du Plessis signed for a level-par 72 to be in a share of 18th, while Yurav Premlall and Jaco Ahlers were in a share of 63rd on three-over. Wilco Nienaber and Jbe’ Kruger were on four-over, and Justin Harding finished on five-over. Mathiam Keyser and Neil Schietekat were on six-over, and Ian Snyman was in a share of 122nd on eight-over.
