DP World Tour : Soudal Open Tee Times Leaderboard
Round 1 at this version of the Soudal Open is winding down with the clubhouse leader, big hitting South African, Zander Lombard in front - 8 63.
Zander Lombard (DPWT photo)
20 players earn DP World Tour playing rights for 2026
Canada's Aaron Cockerill who finished T2 to Lombard at the 2026 Q School to keep their DP World Tour cards is in the late wave, playing off the 10th with 2 birdies, a bogey for 35, then the same combo coming in with 2 birdies and a bogey at the 7th after a bad lie in the greenside bunker, 34 for -2 69 T50
Closing edit 26/05/21 2pm EST
Zander Lombard took advantage of calm early conditions to post an -8 63 and hold a one‑shot lead after the opening round of the Soudal Open at Rinkven International Golf Club.
The South African admitted that he has struggled to put together four rounds lately, but arrived in Belgium looking to build on a promising start at Real Club de Golf El Prat two weeks ago.
A fast opening stretch allowed him to set the early target as the second event of the European Swing got under way, rolling in birdie putts from 19 and 17 feet at the second and third, adding further gains at five and six and holing from 30 feet at the ninth to make the turn in 30.
“Yeah, it was really cool starting this morning," he said following his round.
"Perfect weather conditions, no breeze, greens were rolling tremendously. So it was fun to post a score early in the week and see what it has in store."
But I felt like I've really controlled the ball well, and even when I did miss, I missed it well to give myself chances to, to save par. So all in all, it was a smart round of golf with two bonus extra shots.
The 31-year-old regained his DP World Tour card for this season with victory at DP World Tour Qualifying School following a well-documented return from injury.
While he had a promising start to his 2026 campaign with a top five in Mauritius, his best so far this year has been T33.
Recent winner Yurav Premlall was the third South African to have a breakthrough maiden win on Tour this season at the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship, following in the footsteps of Jayden Schaper and Casey Jarvis, who both have recorded their first and second wins in the past few months.
Asked about their recent success, Lombard explained they all feed off each other.
“I don't know. Maybe, I think we all feed off each other. I think we definitely, there's good camaraderie out there and we all, we all mate, so definitely when one wins, the next definitely wants to follow up.”
Lombard leads fellow South African Richard Sterne and Dane Jacob Skov Olesen by a shot, with Olesen setting the early pace before being overtaken by Lombard and matched by a bogey-free -7 64 from Sterne.
Sterne, who has missed his last three cuts in a row on the DP World Tour, was pleased to see hard work paying off as he hopes to keep himself in contention over the next three days.
"It’s about time I did something half decent in a round of golf," he said afterwards.
"I’m pretty pleased. I've been working hard and it’s nice to see some progress. It’s pretty tight on some holes, and it's a course you need to position yourself well off the tee, and then it gives you opportunities. I was fortunate, the one or two bad tee shots, I had good up and downs, and the putter saved me once or twice, but overall, my ball striking was good, and that's something that has been letting me down.
Tom Vaillant sits in fourth place -5, with a group of 11 players a further shot back at -4 that includes fellow Frenchman Martin Couvra, who delighted the crowds by holing out for eagle at the 14th.
The biggest highlight of the day belonged to Eddie Pepperell, making his 300th start on the DP World Tour this week, who made a hole in one on the 15th on his way to an opening -2 69.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
Bryan Angus
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