Amateur Christo Lamprecht sets pace at The Open Championship
Amateur Champion, Christo Lamprecht came out firing like a seasoned pro, setting the tone for a thrilling opening day at Hoylake. The 22-year-old Georgia Tech senior produced a memorable five-under 66 to claim the early lead at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club. If that wasn’t expected even in the wildest bet, Tommy Fleetwood may have been a popular bet for a good run.
After all, the 32-year-old with the flowing mane is from Southport, a town that shares the Irish coast with Hoylake. He worked up a frothy 66 containing six birdies for a share of the opening-day honours. Lamprecht cut his teeth at Louis Oosthuizen’s Junior Golf Academy in South Africa.
On Thursday, he played alongside the 2010 Open Champion, drawing from his calm wisdom to extract seven birdies from a tricky course protected by wind, treacherous sand traps and rough that appears unkempt, and unwieldy. He was looking imperious for the most part, going four-under through the first ten holes. Lamprecht made three more birdies on the finishing stretch but took bogeys on the 11th and 16th holes to sign for the lowest amateur card in the Open since a 65 by Tom Lewis at Royal St George’s in 2011.
At 6’8” Lamprecht is among the tallest golfers in the world. Even then, it came as a surprise that he stood so tall in a field full of superstars. Not to him.
“It’s pretty surreal to be leading. 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,” said a confident Lamprecht.
Lamprecht set the tone of his towering performance with an impressive start. He saved par from 20 feet on the first hole, before finding the cup from 25 feet on the third to set up a remarkable round of golf. “It’s not a cocky
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