SUN CITY – His previous experience with Gary Playera Country Club helped Sergio Garcia on the first round of 64 on Thursday, and without the shortage of eight pods, he saw him in the squad at Nedbank Golf Challenge.
His first hole on the day appeared as a sign of future things, and then he drove three of them in a row – between nine and eleven, and again between 15 and 17 – to finish four quarter-finals Fin Miko Korhonen, Mike Lorenzo -Vera France and local Charl Schwartzel.
"I felt great," Garcia said later. "I've rolled the ball well, I made some good putts here and there, one of those circles where things are nice to happen.
"I think I played very clever, but probably did not rock it incredibly, but I kept it under control." I always kept the ball in the game, which is difficult here. "
For Garcia, the 2017 Masters champion and winner in Sun City in 2001 and 2003, was crucial to his great start, reading the hot winds around the slope in the mountain pelvis.
"I managed to hit some of the winds here," he said. "That's very, very hard, and you know, when you can do it here, it's nice to be able to record a result like me.
"This is not a golf course that's easy to play when it's a little bit like winds. When it swells, it's even harder."
On the day that many great names were found at least once or twice during the round favorite Rory McIlroy made two gods and doubles – Garcia's performance was even more impressive.
He did not try to overcome the path. "It's very important to keep the ball in the game as much as possible and that's what I was trying to do when I did not feel comfortable with the driver," he said.
"If it was too tight, I hit something less than that and tried to play the hole maybe a bit harder.
"I managed to keep the ball well in the game. I hit a lot of greenery, which is important here to work with small points that you can put pins, and I managed to put some nice pussy."
His post was impressive, especially nine and nine.
And from one master to a champion – @TheSergioGarcia. pic.twitter.com/V0H1F1k7Hk
– SunInternationalGolf (@golfatsun)
8 November 2018
In the 1990s, he turned to the 35-footer for the eagle, and his bird knocked on 11 hit the hole in the speed to get in. "Obviously, they are not the types of putts you expect to make," he said.
"But when you give yourself a lot of chances, it's obvious that you have the opportunity to make something bigger, and I've been able to get into three or four really nice pussy."
? The best of Sergius is 64 in three minutes.# NGC2018 #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/J4OurNdOpl
– European Tour (@EuropeanTour)
8 November 2018
After Garcia, Lorenza-Vera was 68 years old, while Korhonen and Schwartzel were down.
A further move to 69 was a group of six players, including South Africa's 2010 Open London Louis Oosthuizen.
It was fast forty years after seven years, but it seemed to him at eight moments of anxiety, and he made another bird and another dumper when he went home.
Defender Branden Grace defended two children younger than 70 to find himself in sixth place.
Although Garcia's move is great, all people know that it is not insignificant. "It's still the first day," he said.
"There's still plenty of golf to play and a lot of difficult days to come up. It's nice to start that way, but I will not lie to you. There's still plenty of golf to play."
?️ Sergio reflects on his lowest European tour for almost 3 years.# NGC2018 #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/xEnwqiO4cK
– European Tour (@EuropeanTour)
8 November 2018
First Round Results:
64 – Sergio Garcia
68 – Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Mikko Korhonen, Charl Schwartzel
69 – Ashun Wu, Benjamin Hebert, Andy Sullivan, Matt Wallace, Louis Oosthuizen, Jason Scrivener
70 – Ryan Fox, Branden Grace
71 – Lee Westwood, Shane Lowry, Ross Fisher, Andrea Pavan, Jorge Campillo, Tapio Pulkkanen, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Haotong Li
72 – Joost Luiten, Joachim Lagergren, Chris Paisley, Dean Burmester, Matthias Schwab, Aaron Rai, Richard Mcevoy, Rory McIlroy, Paul Waring, Renato Paratore
73 – Sam Horsfield, Wade Ormsby, Dylan Frittelli, Padraig Harrington, George Coetzee, Andrew Johnston
74 – Lee Slattery, Hideto Tanihara, Marcus Kinhult, Nacho Elvira, Pablo Larrazabal, Julien Guerrier, Shubhankar Sharma, Darren Fichardt, Adrian Otaegui, Brandon Stone, Trevor Immelman
75 – Tom Lewis, Thomas Detry, Robert Rock, Oliver Fisher, Alexander Bjork, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Gavin Green, Lucas Bjerregaard, Nicolas Colsaerts, Maximilian Kieffer
76 – Martin Kaymer, Lucas Herbert, Thomas Aiken, Thomas Bjorn
77 – Erik van Rooyen, Richard Sterne, Jens Dantorp, Stephen Gallacher
78 – Danny Willett, Paul Dunne, Ashley Chesters, Matthieu Pavon
– Jordan Smith
80 – Matthew Southgate
81 – Alexander Levy
The African News Agency (ANA)
