A solid opening round of three-under-par 68 from Charl Schwartzel on Thursday saw him hold a share of 20th place after the first round of the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage played at Harbour Town Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Schwartzel had a bogey-free round, with birdies coming on the first and ninth in his opening nine, and one more on the 12th on the homeward nine. He was five shots off the lead which was held by Cameron Young of the United States, who fired an eight-under 63 to lead by two from Joaquin Niemann of Chile, and by three from Niemann’s countryman Mito Pereira, Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland, Corey Conners of Canada, American Patrick Cantlay, former Open champion Shane Lowry, Austria’s Sepp Straka and another Canadian, Adam Svensson.
Schwartzel is fresh off a 10th place finish in the Masters last week, and clearly on the comeback trail.
Next best of the South Africans in the field was Erik van Rooyen, who missed the cut at the Masters, but opened with a two-under 69 on Thursday for a share of 32nd. Dylan Frittelli had a one-under 70, Branden Grace was on level-par, and Garrick Higgo’s struggles continued as he carded a three-over 74 for a share of 117th in the 132-man field.
