Stenson overcomes illness to share Sun City lead with van Zyl

Reuters/Sun City, South AfricaSweden’s Henrik Stenson overcame a bout of illness to share the lead with South African Jaco van Zyl after the first round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club yesterday. The 39-year-old posted five birdies in his opening nine holes to set the early pace but was tentative with the putter on the back nine and added just one more birdie to his scorecard. Stenson, a previous winner of the tournament dubbed ‘Africa’s Major’, had felt poorly since arriving at Sun City. “I’ve been in bed with the flu for three days, and after I had to pull out of the pro-am on Tuesday, I probably had about a five percent chance of playing,” he said. “I felt quite a bit better this morning and the doctor didn’t see any reason why I couldn’t play. I’m delighted with the score, but the last few holes I completely ran out of energy. From the 14th onwards, my legs were like jelly and it was a real struggle.” Van Zyl, 36, also hit six birdies on his debut appearance at a tournament he usually watches from the comfort of his sofa. “There are two events I watch on television every single year,” Van Zyl said after his blemish-free round of 66. “One is the Masters and the other is this. Normally I’m getting ready for a stint in front of the TV at this time of year, but today I had to go and work.” Defending champion Danny Willet of England missed a birdie chance on the 18th hole for a tie of the lead and finished five-under-par with a 67. Australian Marc Leishman and home favourite Branden Grace are on four-under.  The 30-man field benefitted from rain earlier in the day, which took the edge off the hot conditions in South Africa’s North West province, which characterised the days before the tournament start. 10-birdie Wi tears it up in Vietnam South Korea’s Charlie Wi plundered 10 birdies on his way to nine-under 62 and the first-round lead at the inaugural, $1.5-million Ho Tram Open in Vietnam yesterday. Wi made five birdies in a row on the front nine, and another five on his way back against just one bogey as he stole the limelight from Spanish star Sergio Garcia at Vietnam’s richest sport event. The South Korean leads by two from the Thai pair of teenager Danthai Boonma and the experienced Thaworn Wiratchant, who both went round par-71 The Bluffs Ho Tram Strip course in 64. America’s David Lipsky sits one back on 65, alongside Malaysia’s Nicholas Fung and Lin Wen-tang of Taiwan. A host of others are clustered on 66, including world number 12 Garcia who put himself well in the hunt for his first title of the year. Wi bagged birdie after birdie, managing the occasionally gusty conditions on day one of the inaugural tournament. Garcia, the biggest name in the field, plugged six birdies against one bogey in a solid start to the event. Lombard leads in Australian PGA South African rookie Zander Lombard held a two-shot lead over England’s Mark Foster after the opening round of the European Tour co-sanctioned Australian PGA Championship on the Gold Coast on yesterday. Lombard fired five birdies in an unblemished five-under 67 to lead Foster at the Royal Pines resort. Only four other golfers finished their rounds in the red as players encountered buffeting winds and morning rain. Seven-time US PGA Tour winner Brandt Snedeker crashed to a nightmare opening round of 12-over 84, which left him 17 strokes adrift of the lead and facing a huge battle to make the cut. Snedeker finished with eight bogeys, a double and a triple.