Golf
Bothma takes an early lead
2009-02-12 17:53
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Michiel Bothma (Gallo Images)
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Pretoria - Pretoria professional Michiel Bothma brought a ray of sunshine to an overcast first round of the Vodacom Championship at Pretoria Country Club on Thursday.
Bothma signed for an eight under par 64 to lead by two strokes over Charl Coetzee, with Louis de Jager, Albert Pistorius and Tjaart van der Walt all on five under.
Defending champion James Kingston opened with a four under par 68, while Charl Schwartzel signed for a three under par 69.
Bothma surged into the lead with a front nine of 29, including five birdies and an eagle. He came home in 35 with two bogeys and a further three birdies.
"In Pretoria I always want to be on the leaderboard, and after that 29 it struck me that this could be a special round," said Bothma, the winner of the 2002 Telkom PGA Championship, the biggest victory of his career.
"When you've just made seven under after nine holes, you're on top of the world and can hit any shot. I just decided to play the game and go for the flags, and not back out of shots anymore."
Bothma certainly felt this round coming.
"I've been playing so well for eight months now, but just haven't been able to make a four foot putt. But I've been practising hard, and could feel something was on its way. You just get that feeling, this week it's just clicking."
As Bothma's nearest challenger, Coetzee revelled in a putter that warmed to the challenge on a chilly morning.
"I hit a lot of fairways and greens, and then the putts went in," he said of a day when he holed a 30-footer for birdie on the fourth and a 20-footer for birdie on the sixth.
Coetzee also did well to keep the ball out of the thick rough at Pretoria Country Club, which has developed a reputation over the years of this tournament.
"It's very thick," said Coetzee. "If you go in there, you're lucky to just find your ball. To then get it out is quite a mission."
Coetzee went as far to declare it the worst rough on the Sunshine Tour, and even more penal than that at the Gary Player Country Club.
"It's longer than the Gary Player Country Club rough. If you go into the deep stuff, it's like knee-high."
Bradford Vaughan also found some form with the putter on his way to a 68.
"My short game was very good. I've been hitting the ball well the past few weeks but haven't got anything out of my short game. This was the opposite. I didn't hit the ball all that well, and this is probably the best I've scored with the way I hit it. I managed to keep it together with my short game and I'm very happy with a 68."
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