Kristoffer Reitan leads the Nedbank Golf Challenge on nine-under-par after a superb opening 63 in Sun City, while Tom McKibbin’s 68 leaves him sharing fifth place at Gary Player Country Club.
McKibbin was among the early starters off the first in round one, and though he failed to take advantage of both par-5s on the front nine, he’d have been delighted to make the turn at -1 as good birdie chances were few and far between, and he had to rely on his scrambling to get him out of trouble on several occasions.
He was back to something close to his best from tee-to-green in the early stages of the back nine, peeling off birdies at 10 and 14 – both par-5s – and spurned another great opportunity on the 13th. A mistake with a short iron on the 15th was his first missed green on the back side, but he made amends by chipping in from the fairway, then saw two more putts slide by from close range on the closing two holes and signed for a four-under 68.
Marcus Armitage and Jesper Svensson had set the early target at six-under, and were later joined by Adrien Saddier, but Reitan was out on his own after a stunning round featuring 10 birdies and one dropped shot.
Reitan made a flying start, clipping his approach at the first to two feet and holing from eight feet at the second for back-to-back birdies.
His brilliant approach to six inches from a fairway bunker at the sixth set up a third birdie and four in succession followed around the turn, including putts from 12 feet at the eighth and 11 at the 11th.
He picked up further shots at the 14th and 15th and though the 17th brought his one dropped shot of the round after he found sand off the tee, he holed from the fringe at the last to return to nine-under.
The Norwegian’s best previous result in South Africa has been a tie for 42nd, at both the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Championship and the 2020 Limpopo Championship but he said he feels “comfortable” playing in the country.
“It was a brilliant day,” Reitan said. “Very, very happy the way I played. Off the tee, in towards the greens, I was happy, and a couple of wedge shots that were really good, so that was nice to see, and I was rolling the putter well. So it was a great start and I’m very, very pleased.
“I’ve been working hard on (approach play) recently and it’s good to have those days where you see that it’s improved, and I’m hoping I continue that.
“Comfortable, yeah, but I haven’t had any particularly good results in South Africa so I’m hoping to change that this week.
“But I am playing better overall right now than I was when I played here previously so hoping that counts for something.”
Svensson started on the back nine and played it in one-under-par before his inward nine featured two superb eagles, at the second and the ninth.
Armitage also started from the 10th and turned in 31 before adding a sixth birdie at the first. He moved to eight-under with gains at the first and sixth only for a closing seven at the par-five ninth to leave him tied with Svensson and Saddier, who had six birdies in a bogey-free round.
Garrick Higgo and Shaun Norris were the leading home players in a group of six tied for fourth on four under, alongside McKibbin, Julien Guerrier, Thomas Detry and Haotong Li.
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