Casey Jarvis made an excellent start to his hunt for double delight on home soil with a 66 in round one of the Investec South African Open Championship.
The European Challenge Tour graduate won the Freddie Tait Cup as leading amateur at his home open in December 2020 and is now looking to lift the professional trophy in his debut campaign on the DP World Tour.
The 20-year-old was a winner on the Challenge Tour last season as he finished second on the Road to Mallorca and is now looking to take the next step with a DP World Tour win.
"I'd like to get it done as a professional," said Jarvis, who would join the likes of Major Championship winners Ernie Els and Trevor Immelman in doing the double. "That's a goal at the end of the week, but right now I'm just taking one day at a time and I'll see where it goes."
The longest course in DP World Tour history, Blair Atholl Golf & Equestrian Estate contains five par fives, with four of them playing over 600 yards, and Jarvis birdied every one on Thursday.
Starting on the back nine, he made the most of the tenth and 13th and then dropped a shot on the 16th before making a gain on the par-three 17th.
The par-five 18th, first and fifth brought more joy before another gain on a par three at the sixth put him on top of the leaderboard, before he was overtaken late in the day by Joakim Lagergren.
.@Challenge_Tour graduate Casey Jarvis leads the way in Johannesburg 👏#InvestecSAOpen
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 30, 2023
"It was good," added Jarvis. "Early wake up this morning so it was good to go out and post a good number. I played really nice and I'm happy with where my game is at.
"It's a long course so I tried to step on a few drives out there but otherwise I hit the ball really nicely and I'm really happy.
"It's a long course. I don't hit the ball as far as some of the other guys out here. It's a long walk so I think it is mentally challenging for me and I've just got to stay patient."
