Hugo leads South African Airways Open by a stroke

BY iseekgolf.com | European PGA Tour | 2003 South African Airways Open | Round One | 10 Jan 2003

27-year-old Jean Hugo, a former SA Amateur champion, posted a -6 (66) to hold a one shot lead over fellow South Africans Tim Clark and James Kingston following the opening round of the South African Airways Open, the first European Tour tournament of the 2003 calendar year.

Hugo, who lost his European Tour card last year, fired a blemish-free round including six birdies. A win here this week would give him automatic exemption on the European Tour through to the end of 2005.

Scotland’s Andrew Coltart leads a group of five international players at -4 (68). Coltart finished 54th on the Volvo Order of Merit in 2002 with just over €410,000 and currently sits in 30th place on the 2003 list after one event.

The top ranked South African here this week, Trevor Immelman, opened with a 70 and closed the day in equal 14th alongside five others. Immelman comes off the back of a fantastic year that saw him finish as a runner-up three times in tournaments across 2002, and 14th on the European Tour Order of Merit with earnings of just over €1,000,000.

Lee Westwood’s poor form continued this week with a 75, 1999 British Open champion Paul Lawrie and Justin Rose closed at Even par (72).

The South African Airways Open is co-sanctioned by the European and Sunshine Tours (South African Tour) and carries prize money of €770,000.

Top 20 Leaderboard
1 -6 Jean Hugo (66)

T2 -5 James Kingston (67)
T2 -5 Tim Clark (67)

T4 -4 Andrew Coltart (68)
T4 -4 David Drysdale (68)
T4 -4 Iain Pyman (68)
T4 -4 Peter Lawrie (68)
T4 -4 Rolf Muntz (68)

T9 -3 Bradford Vaughan (69)3
T9 -3 David Howell (69)
T9 -3 Ian Garbutt (69)
T9 -3 Per Nyman (69)
T9 -3 Tjaart Van Der Walt (69)

T14 -2 Grant Muller (70)
T14 -2 Ian Keenan (70)
T14 -2 Padraig Dooley(Am) (70)
T14 -2 Scott Drummond (70)
T14 -2 Scott Dunlap (70)
T14 -2 Trevor Immelman (70)

T20 -1 Albert Kruger (71)
T20 -1 Anders Hansen (71)
T20 -1 Bobby Lincoln (71)
T20 -1 Bradley Dredge (71)
T20 -1 Brian Davis (71)
T20 -1 Des Terblanche (71)
T20 -1 Gary Murphy (71)
T20 -1 Jean-Francois Remesy (71)
T20 -1 Lewis Atkinson (71)
T20 -1 Michael Lamb (71)
T20 -1 Philip Golding (71)
T20 -1 Sammy Daniels (71)
T20 -1 Simon Hurd (71)
T20 -1 Stephen Dodd (71)
T20 -1 Steve Van Vuuren (71)

NB – No Australasians are playing this week