Max Kennedy insists he is playing phenomenal golf after he made a blistering start to the rain-delayed NTT Data Pro-Am at Fancourt Golf Estate.
Kennedy opened with a superb seven-under 65 on the Outeniqua to lie five shots behind Benjamin Follett-Smith who came within a whisker of a 59 but settled for a 12-under 60 to lead by three shots.
The Royal Dublin star began with back to back birdies before he recovered from a three-putt bogey on the 13th with birdies on the 15th, 17th, 1st and 2nd. He pushed on to the clubhouse with birdies on the 5th and 6th and he shares third place.
“I played really good golf didn’t make a lot of mistakes, one three-putt early in the round but made up for it very quickly with a lot of birdies, putted really well and chipped a lot better than last week which I was happy about,” said the 24-year-old who missed the cut last week in Cape Town but felt he dealt with a four club wind really well as he shot the lowest score of the afternoon wave.
“I was really happy with that, I didn’t judge the wind correctly or play well in the wind last week in Cape Town so put a lot of work into that over the weekend and controlled my ball really well in that wind and it got very blustery it became a three or four club wind.”
It’s early days in Kennedy’s second season as a professional but he already has four rounds in the 60s including two 65s and although his results read T33 and MC he has shot under par in the first round in his last six competitive events.
“It’s been a phenomenal start to the season! I played four bad holes in Cape Town and missed the cut but listen that’s the professional scene if you don’t have good holes out there you are going to miss cuts, it’s about playing well and keeping your game consistent. I think I am doing a really good job and posting low scores which I am really happy with.”
After day one was abandoned due to a waterlogged course, the tournament has been reduced to 54 holes which might suit Kennedy having only graduated from college two years ago.
“I focused on it being a college event we played a lot of 54-hole events so my dad texted me and he said simple college event so I went out with that mentality of starting strong and making birdies from the off.
“The Montague course tomorrow is more challenging, last year I played really nicely on it and I am looking forward to the challenge and making lots of birdies in the soft conditions.”
Kennedy came within a whisker of a DP World Tour card when he finished a shot outside the card places at the final stage of Q-School as an amateur in 2024. He then narrowly missed out on a place in the Road to Mallorca final on the HotelPlanner Tour last year. He hopes it can be third time lucky in his quest to reach the top.
“I want to get that DP World Tour card, they are becoming rarer and rarer every year, down to 15 now so you want to focus on winning the Road to Mallorca and that’s my goal, take each week at a time and try and win as many tournaments as I can this year.”
Kennedy isn’t the only player DP World Tour dreaming. Gary Hurley’s excellent start to the new season continued as he fired a six-under 66 also on the Outeniqua to sit in a share of fifth place.
Conor Purcell is two shots further back after a 68 on the Outeniqua while Liam Nolan carded a three-under 69 on the Montague.
Qualifiers Rowan Lester and Liam Grehan are two-under and one-under respectively.
Scoring HERE
Leave a comment