KEVIN PHELAN UPSTAGED compatriot Paul Dunne on his debut as a full European Tour member at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa today.
Phelan, who failed to secure his card at Q-School last week and received an invite to the tournament, shot a solid two-under-par, 70 at the Leopard Creek Country Golf Club in Malelane, in the east of the country, near the borders of Mozambique and Swaziland.
The Waterford native, 25, bounced back from the disappointment of last week with five birdies and three bogeys to sit in a share of 23rd.
Greystones man Dunne, who turned 23 today, opened his tournament with a one-over, 73 – leaving him nine shots behind the leader, Christiaan Basson of South Africa.
Dunne began in superb form, making birdies on the first and fifth holes before it started to unravel. A double bogey on the par-four sixth was followed by further dropped shots on the eighth and ninth to make the turn in two-over-par, 37.
He made a steady start on the back nine with four successive pars before another bogey on 14. However, just as the round was heading towards disaster, he rallied and found two more birdies in the last four holes to escape with a 73.
Basson obliterated the field with his unblemished eight-under-par, 64 in tough conditions, temperatures reaching 40C before a thunderstorm saw play abandoned later in the day. He has a three-shot lead from Zimbabwe’s Mark Williams, England’s Matt Ford and former US Masters champions Charl Schwartzel, who five-under-par with one hole from his first round still to play.
Dubliner Peter Lawrie was also in action after receiving an invite but he sits way off the pace after carding an opening-round 79.
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