Outside of the Sunshine Tour in South Africa, Jaco Van Zyl is hardly a household name.
On Thursday, everyone in Antalya heard about the stunning 11-under par effort of 61 he turned in on the first day of the Turkish Airlines Open. Call it a perfect round if you will — nine birdies and an eagle.
“I’ve had lower scores but obviously not on a caliber of a golf course like this,” he said after his day’s splendid work on the Montgomerie Maxx Royal layout. His 61 set a record in the event. The winner of 13 events on the Sunshine Tour finished his day with birdies on five of the final six holes for a back nine 30.
Van Zyl stole all the attention from England’s Lee Westwood, who shot 63 for his best effort of the year. Westwood relocated back to England from South Florida and has spent much of his time focused on his divorce settlement.
Rory McIlroy began to show signs that he’s rounding back into form. He shot a five-under par 67 and was both pleased and not pleased with it. “I hit some quality shots that I’ve seen in practice but I still hit some loose shots out there,” said McIlroy, who saw the course for the first time on Wednesday.
“I probably played a little more conservative than the other guys did,” McIlroy said of his lack of experience with the layout.
