Liam Johnston utilized his local links to shoot an opening round of 3-under-par 35-34=69 in the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek CC in Malelane, South Africa, good for T3 on the live leaderboard, two swings behind the early clubhouse lead.
The Scot had a rollercoaster front nine which witnessed two early birdies at the first and second, dropped shots at three, four and seven, then a much needed par breaker at the ninth. The back nine witnessed more ground made: ticks at 13, 14, 15 and 18, one cross at 17. He is inexperienced at this level with just seven starts and a best of T22 in the European Open. He’s also 1-for-3 for the year with a best of T72. But keep an eye on him the rest of the week. He’s a three-time winner in the year (once on the third tier Pro Golf Tour, twice on the Challenge Tour), he’s also earned two invites to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship via a relationship with the Dunhill owner Johann Rupert – also owner of Leopard Creek - off the back of winning the SA Amateur here in 2017.