Duncan Stewart continued to find his feet on the European Tour as he finished just a shot off the early pace in the Tshwane Open at the Pretoria club.
The 32-year-old, who missed his first five cuts on the main circuit this season but has been showing signs of improvement in recent weeks, posted a five-under 66 to sit in a share of fourth behind joint leaders Gregory Havret, Haydn Porteous and Alexander Bjork.
Stewart began his round on the 10th and was four-under to the turn and after briefly leading the field with another couple of birdies, he slipped to a bogey on his final hole to drop back. It was still a good day’s work for the Grantown-on-Spey man.
“The last hole was the result of a poor shot, but overall I gave myself quite a lot of chances and took a few of them as well,” he said. “The short game was good and I holed out very well. Any time you shoot five-under you can’t complain.”
On a decent opening day for the Scottish contingent, Scott Jamieson and Scott Henry both carded 67s while Richie Ramsay and Marc Warren had matching 68s. David Drysdale had to settle for a one-over 72.
Elsewhere in the Rainbow Nation, there are six Scots in the top 12 heading into the final round of the African Amateur Championship at Leopard Creek. Liam Johnston, who reached the quarter-finals of the South African Amateur Championship last week, and Connor Syme both share second place on seven-under aggregates and are two behind 54-hole leader Christo Lamprecht. Jamie Stewart (five-under), Eric McIntosh (four-under), Craig Howie (two-under) and Calum Fyfe (one-under) are all in the upper reaches of the standings. The Scots have already savoured success this week and came out on top in the combined team event with a 16-under tally.
On the women’s front, Michelle Wie held the first round lead in the HSBC Women’s Championship in Singapore after a six-under 65 left her one shot clear of the pack.
Scotland’s Catriona Matthew opened with a one-over 73 which was at least less damaging than the 84 she started with in Thailand last week.
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