Confident Ferreira grabs Zim Open lead

The first round of the Madeira Islands Open was postponed after heavy fog prevented any play on the Santo da Serra course.

The first round of the Madeira Islands Open was postponed after heavy fog prevented any play on the Santo da Serra course.

Published Apr 10, 2014

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Harare - Two rounds gave Le Roux Ferreira a new-found confidence on Thursday as he surged his way to a seven-under-par 65 and the first-round lead of the Zimbabwe Open.

Six birdies, and eagle and just a single bogey around Royal Harare Golf Club saw Ferreira one stroke clear of the formidable duo of Jacques Blaauw and Jean Hugo, with a big group of six players a further shot back on five-under-par 67.

That group included the leading Zimbabwean, Tongoona Charamba, as well as the 2010 Zimbabwe Open champion Jbe’ Kruger.

“Since last week, I started to believe more in myself,” Ferreira said after his round.

“I had a couple of good rounds in the Telkom Business PGA Championship, and I just felt that this week is going to be a good week.”

Those good rounds came in the second and third rounds of South Africa’s second-oldest tournament, during which he carded 69 and 68 and eventually finished in a share of 44th.

“Good scores make you believe in yourself,” Ferreira added.

“I played here (Zimbabwe) last year, but I didn’t play well. I like it a lot more now. It’s an awesome golf course. It’s one of the best we play all year.”

His sentiments echoed those of all the players, and Blaauw, after a bogey on the second hole, rectified his round as he made an eagle and five birdies to share second with Hugo.

“I had a stupid three-putt from just over the green, but after that I steadied the ship and played nicely,” Blaauw said.

Joining Charamba and Kruger on five-under par were Daniel Greene, Englishman Jack Harrison, Warren Abery and Alan Michell, with a further six players on four-under-par 68, including Ulriuch van den Berg who lost to Titch Moore in a dramatic five-hole play-off in last week’s Telkom Business PGA Championship.

Moore had a quiet start after firing a 10-under-par 62 in the previous day’s pro-am competition.

His two-under-par 70 matched defending champion Jake Roos’ practise round score

Ryan Cairns was the next-best Zimbabwean after Charamba with his one-under-par 71.

Sapa

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