South Africa’s golfers floated on the roars of the fans who flocked to Steyn City to watch the opening day of LIV’s South African debut on Thursday, rising to take the lead in the team competition by one stroke.
Their Southern Guards outfit produced a combined 18 under par, with Branden Grace firing a seven-under-par 64 to find himself one shot off the lead, shared by Americans Bryson DeChambeau, the winner in Singapore on Sunday, and veteran Charles Howell III, who played in the 2003 Presidents Cup at Fancourt.
Charl Schwartzel shot 66, but he had to fight through back pain, clutching at his lower spine on the last couple of holes.
He was in so much pain on Wednesday night that he phoned captain Louis Oosthuizen and told him he didn’t think he’d be able to play.
“I said to him … ‘I’m not sure I can play, I don’t want to come out here, play badly, I’d rather let somebody else play’ and he said to me ‘look, we’ve come a long way with this, you deserve to play so at least try’.”
Schwartzel, whose back woes started in Singapore on Sunday, arrived at the course four hours before his tee time.
“I was in a jacuzzi, then I was in another sort of bath and getting [acupuncture] and I had like a whole bunch of things going on this morning. And then lastly, we took a couple of tablets.
“But it’s just amazing to me what an amazing crowd does to uplift you. I don’t know if I would have got through today if I didn’t have all the people supporting us as hard as they did. It was amazing … I just hope I can manage it like I did today going forward. I don’t need it to get any worse.”
He didn’t know the reason for the pain, but believes it’s not a disc.
Oosthuizen and Schwartzel, good friends who have been playing together for more than 30 years, shared the emotion at the start of play, both standing on the first tee which was packed with fans.
“I was tearing up a little bit,” Oosthuizen said after carding 69.
He recounted that he was 12 when he and Schwartzel, then 10, first met, Schwartzel adding that it was “down the road” at Randpark.
The home crowds were also generous in their applause to the visiting players, especially DeChambeau, but they kept their loudest applause for the local players.
A group of local fans broke into Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika shortly before the shotgun start, brought forward by more than two hours to avoid the threat of afternoon thunderstorms.
Walking off the first tee Oosthuizen turned back to the crowds, placed his hands together in a gesture of gratitude and gave a little bow; his emotion was palpable.
Dean Burmester, who shot 67, described the day as the “pinnacle” of his career.
What an environment. I mean, this is what all of us players saw LIV Golf being and the potential of it … South Africa showed [up] today, and it’s only Thursday.
— Bryson DeChambeau
But everybody felt the vibe.
Howell described Thursday in South Africa as more memorable than the opening round in Adelaide, which has attracted the biggest crowds on the LIV Tour to date, with more than 100,000 over the week last month. “This was more, for sure. No question.”
DeChambeau, who played in the same group as Oosthuizen, was also impressed. “What an environment. I mean, this is what all of us players saw LIV Golf being and the potential of it … South Africa showed [up] today, and it’s only Thursday.”
The Southern Guards jumped to the top of the leaderboard after the first hole, with Schwartzel, Burmester and Grace all scoring birdies, but they quickly slipped down before grinding their way back into the lead at the end of the day’s action.
Smash GC, captained by Talor Gooch, are second on 17 under, with DeChambeau’s Crushers one stroke further back.
Friday’s round will also start earlier than originally scheduled, at 10.05am.
