Immaculate Dyson in electric form at Copperleaf
An explosive finish from Simon Dyson handed the Englishman a share of the lead with home favourite Trevor Fisher Jnr on seven under par on the opening day of the Tshwane Open.
At 7,964 yards, the Ernie Els-designed Copperleaf Golf & Country Estate is the longest course on The European Tour, but Dyson carded a flawless round of 65 to sit alongside Fisher Jnr, who still had two holes left to play when play was suspended for the day due to the threat of lightning in Centurion.
Dyson notched birdies at the second and fifth holes on the front nine and collected another shot at the tenth, but it was at the 15th where the 36 year old really hit his stride.
A birdie there was followed by another after a pitch to within a foot at the 16th, before a 15 foot putt at the 17th completed a hat-trick of gains.
And Dyson signed off in style by holing from 25 feet at the last to set the pace, with his compatriot Ross Fisher and four more South Africans in Erik Van Rooyen, Jared Harvey, Darren Fichardt and Danie van Tonder all tied in third place on six under par.
“It was really nice,” said Dyson, who captured the last of his six European Tour titles at the 2011 KLM Open.
“Putting has been the let-down for the last few weeks, but me and my caddie had a chat about what I’m doing wrong. We spent about an hour and a half on the putting green yesterday, and I managed to get a good feel for it.
“I holed a good six footer for par at the first and then about a 40 footer for birdie at the second, and that was it – I was off and running.
“It’s a lovely start. It’s my lowest round in a good few years, especially on the first day. It just puts you in a nice frame of mind, and sets it up nicely to have a good weekend.”
Fisher Jnr will have to set an early alarm on Friday, when play will resume at 6.45am. Like his co-leader, Fisher Jnr is yet to drop a shot at Copperleaf, and the South African will hope to add to his seven birdies in his remaining two holes.
Earlier in the day, Fisher had made an excellent start as he chases a first European Tour win for four years.
A four-time winner between 2007 and 2010, the former Ryder Cup star carded a six under par 66.
Having started on the back nine, Fisher turned in a blemish-free 32 before carding a bogey at the first hole.
However, a run of four consecutive birdies from the fifth hole – including a 20 foot putt at the seventh – saw him hit the top of the leaderboard, only to drop a second shot of the day at the last after failing to get up-and-down from just off the green.
“I got into a nice steady run with four birdies in a row on the front nine, which was my back nine,” said Fisher. “Unfortunately I dropped one at the last, but I can’t complain too much with six under.
“The course is pretty soft after all the rain we’ve had, but if you drive it well then you’ll have a lot of looks at birdie.
“My game feels in good shape coming off the back of a good result in South Africa a couple of weeks ago. I don’t know what it is, I just enjoy playing down here and I seem to play quite well."
