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Investec South African Open Championship - Day one digest
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Investec South African Open Championship - Day one digest

Everything you need to know from day one at Blair Atholl Golf & Equestrian Estate.

Schmid had a nice treble and a cool double while Lawrence is the leader of the pack on a day of low scoring, chip-ins and aces.

Here is everything you need to know from round one at the South African Open Championship.

Chip-ins, they're like London buses

You wait and wait and then two come along at once. Matti Schmid shot a six-under-par 66 which included three eagles and two chip-ins. Early rises must suit him. Schmid, starting at the tenth, was off at 6.20am and took advantage of the par-fives, posting eagles at three of the five - the 13th, 18th and fifth. "I don't think I chipped in twice the whole year but now I chipped in twice today which was very nice, very pleasant," said a smiling Schmid after his opening round. The 25-year-old German led for most of the day until Thriston Lawrence took over.

Here's another one...

Wilco Nienaber was flirting with the top of the leaderboard until a double-bogey at the 17th, after finding sand with his tee-shot and failing to escape, dropped him back down. But earlier he had stormed up the standings with a run of four birdies in a row. And it all started with this chip-in at the eighth.

Bouncing back

Nienaber did not dwell on the two shots dropped at the 17th. Here's how he recovered with a brilliant eagle at the last to sign for a five-under-par 67.

Room for one more chip?

Here's Lawrence's moment of magic at the 16th. It was this cute little shot that took him out on his own.

A pair of aces

Tom McKibbin and Hennie du Plessis were celebrating after they managed a hole-in-one each during their opening round. McKibbin, the 19-year-old from Northern Ireland, was just in the red numbers after three birdies and two bogeys on  the way out, before he aced the 224-yard 11th hole with five-iron, to reach three under and share a high-five with playing partner Edoardo Molinari. Earlier, South African Du Plessis holed his seven-iron at the 221-yard third hole to quickly cancel out a double-bogey at the first and post the first ace of the new season.

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