Henning Fires 62 for 18-Hole Lead in Joburg Open


Nic Henning fired a 9-under 62 to take the opening-round lead at the Joburg Open. The European Tour event got underway Thursday on the West and East courses at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club.

The 45-year-old posted seven birdies and an eagle on the par-4 third hole to equal the West course record. Henning heads into the second round with a one-stroke lead over fellow South Africans Tjaart van der Walt and Titch Moore, and Belgium's Thomas Pieters.

All four of the top scores came on the easier West, which rotates with the more difficult East the first two days. The final two rounds will be on East.

Henning's red-hot round was highlighted by an 8-under 29 on the front nine. He was in position to shoot a magical 59, but came home with two birdies and seven pars.

"It was fantastic - I haven't shot 29 for a couple of years, and I was a bit nervous coming down the last hole," Henning told the European Tour's website. "On the last hole of the front stretch I told myself that I had to make birdie and eventually I did that.

"I've been playing well for the last few months, but my scores haven't showed it. Over the last few years my scores have been really terrible and it's nice to have a good round under the belt to prove to myself that I can still play well.

"It's been a long time since I shot 62. I'll try to do the same thing as I did today, just try to stay calm. I was calm today. I'll try to hit fairways and put myself in a good position. It's about staying in the moment and taking every shot as it is."

The 23-year-old Pieters also took advantage of West's front nine, recording a 31. The shot of the day was an ace by Moore on the par-3 fifth, while van der Walt had 10 birdies and two bogeys.

"It was a good day and a good start," said Pieters. "You need to make a good score on this course, so I'm happy and hopefully we'll have more of the same tomorrow. It's very possible to go low on east. The par-5s are very reachable for me, so I'm going to take advantage of those.

"This season I gave myself a great chance in Abu Dhabi. I also had a top-10 at Leopard Creek, but I wasn't really in contention. In the Middle East I played good, but had one bad round in there. If I can play four solid rounds then hopefully a win will come soon."

Two behind Henning are South Africans Garth Mulroy and Dean Burmeister, and Australian Jason Scrivener. Eight players opened with 65s, with two of those, England's Sam Hutsby and South African Wallie Coetsee, recording the low scores on the East course.

Defending champion George Coetzee was among a big group tied for 16th after a 66.

For all the scores, visit http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2015/tournamentid=2015014/leaderboard/index.html?showLeaderboard=Y.