Joburg Open :: Henry starts strongly

• Scott Henry starts with six-under round at Joburg Open
• The Glaswegian is three shots behind leader Nic Henning
• Andrew McArthur and Sean Jacklin also start well

Scotland’s Scott Henry recorded a six-under round of 65 to be right in contention on a low-scoring first day at the Joburg Open.

The 28-year-old Glaswegian, a one-time Challenge Tour winner at the Kazakhstan Open in 2012, had a whirlwind start and was five-under after the front nine, before coming in with two birdies and his only bogey to sit in an eight-way tie for eighth place.

Henry is three shots behind sole Joburg Open leader Nic Henning, with the South African equalling the West Course record score with a round of nine-under, including five birdies and an eagle on the front nine alone.

Of the 26 players on a score of five-under or lower, only five played the East Course, with Wallie Coetsee the best of those, tying Henry on six-under.

While Henry leads the seven-strong Scottish contingent at the Joburg Open, there were also good opening rounds for Andrew McArthur and Sean Jacklin – son of two-time major winner Tony Jacklin – who both carded rounds of three-under, while David Drysdale is on one-under.

Craig Lee is level par but, in the low-scoring nature of the opening round, finds himself T114, while Chris Doak and Amateur champion Bradley Neil are one-over par. The 19-year-old is optimistic heading into the second round though and tweeted his thoughts after a tough day.

He tweeted:

With three Open Championship qualifying places up for grabs, defending champion of the Joburg Open, George Coetzee, who is exempt from qualification, opened with a five-under round of 66.

Of the other exempt players, Coetzee’s five-under round was matched by fellow countryman Thomas Aiken, while new European Ryder Cup captain and 2011 Open champion Darren Clarke could only manage level par. Italian Edoardo Molinari had a day to forget, finishing three-over par and T184.