The Open: Lamprecht races into the lead
An amateur leading the Open Championship when some of the finest names in the sport are struggling… you’d think this is the beginning of a tall tale. It actually is.
South Africa’s Christo Lamprecht, a Senior at Georgia Tech, raced to lead the oldest golf tournament in the world with a five-under par 66. He measures 6 feet 8 inches from head to toe – the tallest golfer in the tournament.
It was a fantastic round that bordered on being fantastical. Not only did he make seven birdies, but he did so in the company of fellow South African Louis Oosthuizen. Lambrecht is a product of Ootshuizen’s academy and considers the 2010 Open champion his idol.
The 22-year-old was later joined by local favourite Tommy Fleetwood at the top of the leaderboard, and their position was rarely threatened. As a few groups trudged in from the afternoon batch, the closest challenger to the two was Frenchman Antoine Rozner, who shot a four-under par 67.
Among those who finished, world No1 Scottie Scheffler (70) managed to get in the red figures with a birdie on the last hole, while defending champion Cameron Smith could do no better than a one-over par 72.
India’s Shubhankar Sharma made back-to-back birdies after a bright start of three solid pars to move to two-under par after and was inside the top-10 after six holes.
Royal Liverpool has been kind to amateurs, but in the distant past. Only three amateurs have ever won the Open Championship, and two of them here. In 1897, Harold Hilton, a Royal Liverpool member, won the first-ever Open at his home club, and in 1930, it was the turn of Bobby Jones, possibly the best-ever amateur in the history of the sport.
Lamprecht has a chance to join Jones, and John Ball (1890), to win the Amateur Championship, which helped him qualify for this week, and the Open Championship in the same year.
The only major mistake was a snaphook tee shot off the first tee, and then came the Shot of the Round when he needed to get one of his long legs inside a deep bunker on the fourth hole and make an unbelievable par from an impossible lie. That shot soon became viral on social media.
Lamprecht’s finish amply showed that particular shot was no flash in the pan. He is about to endear himself to plenty with not just his immense distance – his average drive is a ridiculous 340 yards, but he has dialled it down this week to 320 yards to compensate for links course – but also his unique swing as he needs to take a massive body dip at the point of impact because of his height. Ever since the governing bodies have limited shaft length to 46 inches, he had to make the ‘dip’ adjustment in his swing.
The third-ranked amateur in the world is also not short on self-belief.
Asked if he imagined such a start at The Open, Lamprecht said: “It’s pretty surreal. It’s nice to see a lot of work behind the scenes pay off. As an amateur, yes, it is surprising to see my name up there. But in my own head, it’s not. I think I earned my spot to be here. I think the way I played today I earned to be on the top of the leaderboard, as of now.
“It’s not a cocky thing to say. I just personally think I believe in myself, and I guess stepping on to the first tee box if you’re a competitor, you should be believing that you should be the best standing there.”
The pairing with Oosthuizen surely helped.
“I don’t think I’ve ever beaten him. I’ve played with him probably four or five times. I guess beating him today was really nice,” said Lamprecht, whose great grandfather was 7 feet tall.
“But he’s an amazing support and he was supporting me the whole way through. He had a bad round today. I guess he unlucky a lot of times, but he was cheering me on and that means a lot.”
Fleetwood, a big Everton fan, made six birdies and a solitary bogey, and lapped up the support from the crowd.
“It was very cool, and I think you can’t ask for more from the fans and the support. They were so great to me today. From the first tee onwards, throughout the round, the way they were down the last hole there, the reception I got,” said Fleetwood, searching for his first major.
“Such a special opportunity to play so close to home, but have that support and play an Open, glad I gave them some good golf to watch.”
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