He started his round with a bogey, dropped another shot on the ninth, but he picked up five birdies and an eagle to give himself a one-stroke advantage over Jacques Blaauw, and he was a further shot clear of Mark Williams of Zimbabwe, England’s Ross McGowan, BMW South African Open champion Brandon Stone and Haydn Porteous, who won the Joburg Open.
“I’m nice and tired,” said Coetzee. “If you don’t have to think too much on the golf course, then that’s always positive. I just told myself beforehand to make good decisions. That’s all you can really control if your body’s not up to it and it’s not your fault. But if your decisions are good, then you’ve got a good chance.”
Coetzee had to make his way back to South Africa after competing in the World Golf Championship-Cadillac Championship in Florida last week – and make it in time to a tournament which started on the Wednesday of the week, a day earlier than is usual.
“I felt like I played pretty solid the whole day,” he said. “There was nothing really exciting. I hit a couple of good shots that helped me make a couple of good birdies and an eagle, but otherwise it was just pretty solid golf.”
