SUN CITY, South Africa (Reuters) – Englishman Dan Bradbury hit an eagle on his last hole for a six-under-par 66 and a four-way share of the lead after the first round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club on Thursday.
Bradbury tops the leaderboard with Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard, who overcame a poor start to set the early pace, Swede Vincent Norrman and Max Homa from the United States in the tournament dubbed Africa’s major.
The 24-year-old Bradbury got off to a blistering start with four birdies in his first six holes but then dropped a shot before the turn.
He saved the best for last with the eagle on the par five ninth, having started his round off the 10th tee.
“To be honest, I was just trying to get it onto the green and two putt,” he said.
The 22-year-old Hojgaard, a Ryder Cup winner last month, opened with a bogey five but quickly got his game going and hit eight birdies to take the early clubhouse lead.
Norrman, 25, made a steady start before his first birdie on the sixth hole and went on to score another five in a blemish-free round.
Homa birdied three of his last five holes to shoot up the leaderboard and into a share of the overnight lead.
Defending champion Tommy Fleetwood, who has won the last two editions of the tournament, finished with a one-under 71.
(Reporting by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Ken Ferris)
