South Africa’s Jaco Van Zyl rose to the top of the leaderboard after a bogey-free 67 on Thursday at the Lyoness Open powered by ORGANIC+.
Van Zyl, who has five runners-up finishes on the European Tour, including this season’s Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, is still chasing his first European Tour victory and got off to a solid start on Thursday.
Starting on the back nine, Van Zyl made birdies on 13, 15, 16, 2 and 3 to share the lead with Sweden’s Johann Carlsson. SA Open winner Graeme Storm is one behind after firing an opening 68.
Local favourite Bernd Wiesberger, who won this event back in 2012, turned in 32 at the Diamond Country Club, but a bogey at 4 and a double at 8 saw him drop back down the field after signing for a two-under 70.
Dylan Frittelli opened with a 70, good enough for a share of 10th place, with bogeys at 4 and 18 halting his steady progress.
Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images
