Casey Jarvis has put himself in the mix to win the prestigious Harry Vardon Trophy after opening a one-shot lead on day one of the Genesis Championship.
Related: Ryan Fox relishing Genesis Chmpionship debut in Korea
The South African, currently fourth on the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World, posted a six under par first round of 65 to move one ahead of South Korean Sanghun Shin at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club.
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The 23-year-old claimed back-to-back wins during the International Swing at the Magical Kenya Open presented by absa and the Investec South African Open Championship earlier this year – the latter earning him spots at this year’s Masters and The Open.
He is now looking to make ground on Race to Dubai leader Eugenio Chacarra and become the first South African to be crowned European Number One since Ernie Els in 2004, with this week’s tournament and two Rolex Series events of the DP World Tour Play-Offs still to come.
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Jarvis made three birdies in a row at the third, fourth and fifth holes before another at the eighth took him to four under alongside early leaders Antoine Rozner and Mikael Lindberg.
A dropped shot at the ninth saw him turn in 33, but after two pars, a brilliant approach from the rough at the 12th helped him regain a share of the lead. He then moved clear with a 32-footer for birdie to reach five under.
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Shin, the Korean Tour (KPGA) Order of Merit leader, birdied his final hole to sign for a 66 and set the clubhouse target. The South Korean, who only returned from military service this season, holed out from a bunker at the first to set the tone for a round featuring six birdies and a solitary dropped shot at the fourth.
Jarvis birdied the last after holing from seven feet to regain the outright lead. It has been a breakout year for the South African, who almost made it three wins in a row with a tie for second at the Joburg Open, and although he has not maintained that momentum throughout the season, he recently returned to form by finishing in a share of second at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Behind Jarvis and Shin, a group of five players sit in a pack on four under, made up of Rozner, Lindberg, home favourite Si Woo Kim, Frederic Lacroix and Niklas Lemke.
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Champion Golfer of the Year Ryan Fox headlines the group a shot further back alongside Dan Bradbury, Marcus Kinhult and Ryggs Johnston – who is fighting to retain his DP World Tour card this week.
Round one was suspended due to darkness at 6:10pm local time and will resume at 8am tomorrow. Round two tee times will remain as originally published.
Player Quotes
Casey Jarvis: I felt really good out there. Hit a lot of good quality iron shots and made some good putts. I’ve been working really hard on the greens and to see it finally paying off a bit is really nice. So I’m super happy.
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I definitely think the putting has improved a lot. I went through a bit of a dip. I’ve worked hard with the putter and have started to find the stroke again. I’ve started with a new putting coach and it seems to be working really well.
I think we put a good game plan together in the practice round. Honestly, I see a lot of drivers out there and you have to be pretty good off the tee. I felt like I had some poor drives today but my plan was good enough to recover.
