HOYLAKE (England) — Christo Lamprecht took a mental photo of his name in the 18 th Fairway at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, on Thursday.
The 6-foot-8 South African was the center of attention, not because he is the tallest golfer ever, but for a different reason. Lamprecht, , a 22-year old ranked third on the World Amateur Golf Ranking, and playing for Georgia Tech as a collegiate golfer, shot a 5-under-66 in his opening round to share the lead with Englishman Tommy Fleetwood. Lamprecht said that the view of the top of leaderboard was perfect for him.
He said, “It is nice to see the hard work that has been done behind the scenes paying off.” It’s something that I’ve never dreamed of before, but it is pretty cool.
Open Championship in 2023: Leaderboard and tee time information
Lamprecht’s height was a hot topic in the gallery as he rose to the top. Lamprecht’s leanness is comparable to a 1-iron, and his lightness makes him a great nickname.
His stock driver can carry 320-325 yard. He can still throw it up to 340 yards if necessary.
But I don’t really want to. In this weather. “Not in links golf,” said he. It rolls far enough for me to keep it in my face.
Color long-bombing Bryson DeChambeau impressed. He stopped to watch Lamprecht in action.
“He just wished he had my length, I guess,” Lamprecht cracked.
We all don’t. Stewart Cink, 2009 Open champion, and Georgia Tech alumnus, hit balls with Lamprecht at the school’s Atlanta practice facility on multiple occasions and gave this assessment:
Cink stated, “As an old golfer, seeing someone like him is like your worst nightmare. Watching a young guy like that come up.” “He has a lot more potential than I thought.”
Lamprecht’s accountant father is the shortest in his five-generation family. His great-grandpa was 7 feet tall. Lamprecht was a member of South Africa’s junior team, but quit to play golf in high school. Around the same time, he also went through a rapid growth spurt.
He said, “Golf was everywhere.” “I had no idea what was happening. “I was changing clubs every 6 months.”
His lack of South African accent is almost as surprising as the gangly appearance.
He said, “I’m an American full-blown now. I don’t like it.” “Yeah, it’s bad. I don’t understand why it was changed. I can’t go back and change it. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”
Lamprecht, a South African junior golfer, spent four years in the golf academy of Louis Oosthuizen. Lamprecht said that he hoped Louis was really proud of him after he became the youngest South African Amateur winner in 2017.
Lamprecht, who won the British Amateur last month, was paired up with Oosthuizen for the first two round of the British Open. He said Oosthuizen was “someone that I looked up to.” Oosthuizen is almost a foot smaller than Lamprecht.
He said, “It was a pretty good draw.” “I thought it was rigged, but I really liked it.”
Lamprecht admitted that he was still nervous at the first tee. He had a terrible range session on Wednesday afternoon. He had a poor range session again before his first-round and snapped his drive on the first. Then his caddie and assistant coach at Georgia Tech Devin Stanton told him: “Listen, this is The Open; don’t stress.”
The birdies began to fall, including three over a stretch of four holes on the front nine, and a 40-yard chip-in at the 14 th difficult hole.
He said, “That was an amazing deal.”
Oosthuizen who shot 74 was asked if Lamprecht ever beat him when they played.
Oosthuizen stated, “Never use eight strokes.”
