Warm conditions and accuracy off the tee helped Dylan Frittelli to a place inside the top 10 after round one of the Shenzhen International in China, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Frittelli made six birdies and two bogeys as he signed for 68 on Thursday, three behind the leader Bubba Watson.
‘Yes, besides the rain storm that came through mid-round for me, the conditions were pretty good for golf. It was pretty warm and hot out there, so that was nice to play in,’ Frittelli told Compleat Golfer after his opening round.
Frittelli, who is one behind countrymen Haydn Porteous and Dean Burmester after 18 holes, was pleased with his performance from tee to green in his fourth appearance at the event.
‘I was striking the ball pretty well out there. I haven’t had a look at my stats just yet, but I would imagine that I hit about 80% of the fairways and a similar number of greens. I managed to hit some good wedges, which allowed me to get some decent tries for birdie.’
Frittelli, who turned pro in 2012, is looking to continue his form on the greens after impressive showings in Morocco, India and the co-sanctioned events in South Africa earlier in the season.
‘My putting was really good today, as it has been for the past few weeks, so I am excited to keep that rolling over the next few days.
‘Tomorrow, my goal will be to continue to hit the fairways because it really makes scoring much easier around this course. All the par 5s are reachable, so I expect scoring to be low throughout the competition, so you need to make those holes count.’
The 26-year-old South African displayed on Thursday that he has the ability to keep pace with the best of them as he searches for European Tour win number one.
