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Amateur Champion Christo Lamprecht had a debut to remember at the 151st Open as he carded 5-under 66 in the opening round. This was the lowest first-round total by an amateur in majors since Tom Lewis' 65 at the 140th Open in 2011.
Lamprecht, paired with fellow countryman and former Open winner Louis Oosthuizen and Joost Luiten, made seven birdies and two bogeys in the first round at Royal Liverpool.
The 6-foot-8 South African had earned an invitation to this year's Open after winning the Amateur Championship last month. Besides, he also earned an exemption for next year's Masters and the US Open.
The 22-year-old golfer said it was a surreal feeling to see his name at the top of the leaderboard. He said, as per the Scotsman:
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"It's nice to see a lot of work behind the scenes pay off. It's pretty cool."
Christo Lamprecht was born on January 30, 2001, in the Western Cape. His father worked as an accountant, while his mother was a housewife. He has two older sisters. He was first introduced to golf by his father, Christo Senior. Christo Senior, who is 6-foot-4, is the shortest male in the Lamprecht family, spanning five generations.
Growing up, Lamprecht played various sports like tennis, cricket, rugby, and golf. Interestingly, he was also part of the South African junior national tennis team but decided to stick to golf in high school.
Lamprecht's amateur career started remarkably with a win at the 2017 South African Amateur Championship, and he became the youngest player to achieve this feat.
In 2017 and 2019, Christo Lamprecht was part of the Junior Presidents Cup. In 2018, he made history by becoming the first international champion at the East of Ireland Amateur. He also had other notable performances, such as T8 at the St Andrews Links Trophy and T11 at the Junior Players Championship.
In 2019, Lamprecht was part of the South African team that won the Junior Golf World Cup and also finished as runner-up at the Southern Cape Amateur Open and the All Africa Juniors Challenge.
Lamprecht also did significantly well in collegiate golf after joining Georgia Tech in 2020. He earned an All-American title and also became a finalist for the prestigious Fred Haskins Award in 2020.
This season, the 22-year-old South African has clinched one victory, which came at the 128th Amateur Championship. He beat Ronan Kleu of Switzerland in the 36-hole Final. This helped him climb to No. 3 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Here are the Amateur victories of Christo Lamprecht so far:
- 2016 Dimension Data Junior Open
- 2017: South African Amateur Championship
- 2018: East of Ireland Amateur Open Championship, Dimension Data Junior Open
- 2020: Cape Province Open
- 2022: Inverness Intercollegiate
- 2023: The Amateur Championship
When will Christo Lamprecht resume playing at The Open Championship on Friday?
Grouped with Louis Oosthuizen and Joost Luiten, Christo Lamprecht will tee off the second round of the 151st Open on Friday, July 21 at 7:53 am EST.
While Lamprecht is at the top after carding 5-under 66, Oosthuizen shot 3-over 74 on Thursday. Luiten had a comparatively better start as he posted an even par 71 on Day 1 at Royal Liverpool.
