South Africans in the mix at British Open
Dawie Van der Velt shared the lead early on and is still in contention
South African Dawie Van der Velt shared the early lead in the first round of the British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on Thursday.
Van der Velt (31) won the Nelson Mandela Championship in his homeland earlier this year and is based in Texas, USA.
During Thursday morning’s action, the South African dropped a shot at the second, but he regained that at the following hole and birdies at five and seven nosed him ahead.
As the morning grew older, two other South Africans overtook Van der Velt. Brandon Grace is currently two under par, just one shot behind leader Robert Karlsson while Charl Schwartzel is one under par.
Of the favourites to win the event, American Tiger Woods was first out at 9:04am (0804 GMT) in the company of Angel Cabrera and Henrik Stenson.
Two groups later were Irishman Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and Jordan Spieth of the United States.
Defending champion Phil Mickelson and world No 1 Adam Scott had afternoon start times.
