During a difficult day for scoring, the South African contingent struggled to make their presence felt, with the exception of one incredible shot from Dean Burmester, in the first round of The Open Championship at Royal Troon, in Scotland, on Thursday.
Burmester and Thriston Lawrence were the best of the SA players as they both carded opening rounds of level par 71 in a tie for 18th.
Burmester was heading for an over par score as he was two-over with three holes left. In fact, Burmester played the first seven holes in four-over. On the par five 16th, though, the LIV golfer struck one of the shots of the day.
There Burmester found himself in the greenside bunker for two, and his shot from the sand bounced once before striking the pin and scuttling down into the hole for an eagle three.
A hole-out eagle from the bunker on the 16th.
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 18, 2024
Dean Burmester is back to level par. pic.twitter.com/nWgNed8QA3
In total, Burmester had four bogeys offset by two birdies and the eagle.
“Trying to get it out was the first thing I was trying to do. It kind of bounced back on to the downslope and the right side slope,” said Burmester after his round.
“Years ago Brett Rumford said, if you're on a right-hand lie, try and draw your bunker shot, so I took that advice and I tried that, and whoop, one bounce in the hole. That's all.
“But it was really tough firstly to get it out, and to get it in the vicinity of the pin was pretty cool.”
Lawrence, meanwhile, had a steadier round with two bogeys and two birdies for his level par effort.
The next best South African was Christiaan Bezuidenhout on four-over in a share of 82nd. Darren Fichardt was two shots further adrift on six-over in 120th place, while former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen was seven-over in 129th.
Amateur Altin van der Merwe was tied alongside Ryan van Velzen on eight-over in 138th, while 54-year-old Ernie Els was down in 153rd after a forgettable 11-over 82.