Staff WriterThe Joburg Open has a funny way of reminding everyone who’s in charge, and on Thursday it was not the golfers. It was the rain—heavy, persistent, and thoroughly uninterested in scorecards—plus a spell of lightning that parked play for an hour and 45 minutes.
Somehow, in all that watery commotion, South Africa’s Jayden Schaper and England’s Nathan Kimsey still managed to post matching six-under-par 64s, joining Germany’s Maximilian Steinlechner at the top of a clubhouse leaderboard that looked like it had been assembled during a power cut.
A first round shaped by weather and interruptions
The almost constant rain from early morning and that lengthy lightning delay mean the opening round won’t be completed until Friday morning. In a week where players are usually trying to control ball flight and nerves, Thursday demanded a more basic skill: staying patient while your sleeves turn into wet towels.
Still, the early numbers were sharp. Schaper, Kimsey and Steinlechner led by one over Wilco Nienaber, Jacob Olesen, Darius van Driel and Hugo Townsend, all in with 65s. Not everyone had the courtesy to finish, either. South Africa’s Luke Brown was seven under through 12 holes, while Spain’s Angel Ayora sat on six under with three to play—both with the sort of momentum you’d normally want to keep warm, dry, and uninterrupted.
Schaper’s clean card and one properly timed eagle
Schaper’s round stood out not just for the score, but for the absence of damage: no dropped shots in conditions that can turn a good swing into an apology. He even found room for an eagle on the par-five fifth, hitting a rescue to 15 feet and rolling in the putt—exactly the kind of moment that feels twice as satisfying when you’ve been soaked since breakfast.
He was understandably pleased to have signed and escaped the elements with a 64 in the bag.
“It’s always nice to get off to a good start, especially with it being so wet out there. It’s hard to judge what the greens are going to do with your approach shots and the spin. There were a lot of slow patches on the greens as well. But I just played the same game I’ve been playing. From tee to green I was pretty good,” he said of a round that included an eagle on the par-five fifth hole where he hit a rescue to 15 feet and holed the putt.
Schaper is hunting a third DP World Tour win this season, and a fast start—particularly one built on control from tee to green—doesn’t hurt. But he also sounded like a man who has read the sky forecast and doesn’t fancy arguing with it.
“I’m looking forward to the rest of the week. We’ll have to see what the weather has planned for us. You can’t control that so we’ll see what happens.”
Kimsey’s 30-second arrival and a 64 that didn’t read the script
Then there was Kimsey, who spent the morning in limbo as first reserve, waiting for the sort of call that usually arrives too late to matter. This one didn’t. It arrived with just enough time to convert him from spectator to contender—barely.
He described the scene with the straightforward disbelief of a man who’d mentally moved on to lunch.
“I turned up at the club first thing hoping I’d get a tee time. The last tee time in the morning wave came and went and no word. I came back to the clubhouse and had my feet up when I suddenly got the phonecall to say I was in,” he said.
And then he did what golfers almost never do under pressure: he relaxed into it. Not a bad strategy when you’ve had no time to invent expectations.
“Under the circumstances my round was fantastic. I just took it as an opportunity I got at the last minute, and it worked out pretty well.”
The chasing pack, notable names, and what Friday morning brings
Behind the leaders, there were solid starts from a few with history in this tournament. Jacques Kruyswijk—who lost in a playoff for the title last year—and former champion Richard Sterne opened with two-under 68s. American Patrick Reed, making his debut in this event, signed for a one-under 69, a quietly serviceable opening that keeps him close enough to be mildly inconvenient if the weekend heats up.
But the story of day one at the Joburg Open is less about famous names and more about who handled the shifting conditions: wet greens with “slow patches,” stop-start rhythm thanks to lightning, and the looming reality that the first round isn’t even finished. Friday morning will tidy up the loose ends, and it may also rewrite the top of the board depending on what Brown and Ayora do when play resumes.
For now, three 64s sit like dry matches in a damp pocket—surprisingly intact, and suddenly valuable. In a tournament where the weather has already thrown its punches, that’s about as good a position as anyone can hope to be in.
