Erik van Rooyen opened his campaign in the PGA Tour’s latest signature event with a level-par 72 in the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida.
Van Rooyen, who finished second in last week’s PGA Tour event, had an early bogey on the second hole, which he countered with a birdie on the fourth to turn in level-par 36. He made two bogeys and two birdies on the homeward nine and was in a share of 35th in the 69-man no-cut field.
Up front, Shane Lowry knew he was playing good golf because he gave himself a chance to win last week. He also knew his record at Bay Hill was as bad as any course he had played. Good form won out as he made three birdie putts from outside 20 feet, chipped in for eagle and avoided most of the trouble for a six-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead after the opening round. American Justin Lower and former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama of Japan were in a share of second on five-under-par.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout is the other South African in the field, and he had a double-bogey six on the ninth after he pulled his tee shot way left. He played a provisional ball, but found the original and had to hack it out sideways. From the right rough, he was only able to advance his third 131 yards. He put his fourth 23 feet from the pin and got down in two from there. He made a bogey and a birdie on his homeward nine to finish on two-over in a share of 57th.
