Keelan van Wyk carded a nine-under-par 62 on Wednesday to take the first-round lead of the Big Easy IGT Challenge Tour’s Tour Championship at Centurion Country Club.
Van Wyk, currently in 10th place on the Road to the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, made 10 birdies and dropped one shot as he carved out a two-stroke lead over Bradley Diggeden and Ricky Hendler, both of who were bogey-free for their 65s. Jonathan Waschefort, Yubin Jung and Ryan Tipping shared fourth on five-under-par, a further two shots back.
With the top six players on the Order of Merit guaranteed their Sunshine Tour cards for 2022, Van Wyk is projected to climb into sixth place should he stay in the lead till the end of the tournament. Like all projections, much depends on what happens with the players around him, but he will take heart from the good start he has made to his campaign.
The Order of Merit leader is Ian Snyman, who has withdrawn from the tournament as he is stuck in Asia after making his debut on the Asian Tour. With travel too difficult at the moment, it made sense for him to continue his campaign abroad. He, however, seems assured of winning his Sunshine Tour playing privileges.
Players in and around the top six who need to work at staying there include Therion Nel and Hendler. Nel is currently projected to slip two spots to eighth after his first round of three-under-par 68 sees him in a share of ninth for the tournament. Hendler’s good start sees him projected to climb five places to seventh, which gives him a powerful incentive to keep working.
Gregory Mackay is currently in seventh, but his opening one-under-par 70 projects him to slip to ninth.
Erhard Lambrechts is in second, and would drop to third based on his current share of 33rd at four-over. Kyle McClatchie would replace him in second from his current third after an opening round of four-under has him in a share of seventh. Ryan van Velzen would stay in fourth and Vaughn van Deventer in fifth.
