England’s Millar leads weather-affected Blu Label Invitational

Matt Millar produced a fine seven-under-par 64 in the weather-delayed opening round of the fourth Betway Big Easy Blu Label Invitational to lead by two shots at Reading Country Club.

Monday’s opening round was delayed for over two hours due to bad weather. When play finally started, the players were called back from the course again in the afternoon as weather conditions deteriorated once more.

This led to the round only being completed on Tuesday around noon, and subsequently to the cancellation of the third round, rendering this event a 36-hole event instead of the scheduled 54-hole event.

Millar was already in the clubhouse by this time.

“Obviously, with the delays, it was a bit strange,” said Millar after his round. “We got here early and had to wait for a while. Then, I kind of got off to a nice start; I made a couple of early birdies. I got it to three-under and then we had a long wait; an hour and a half wait. So, I kind of had to sit there thinking about it for a long time.

“And then I came out and made a nice eagle on the par-five to get to five-under, then I made a couple of nice putts coming in to get it to seven. So, I’m really pleased.”

His closest challengers are Leon Visser and Kian Rose who both sit on five-under.

“Probably a 12-hour day,” noted Visser after his round, referring to how long the day proved to be. I just needed to keep my head in it, and whenever I had an opportunity, I used it well. And, I just putted really well today, so that helped a lot.”

With the tournament now reduced to a 36-hole event, players will be eager to make their moves to secure favourable positions in this penultimate tournament of the five-event Blu Label Invitational series.

The Betway Big Easy Tour is the Sunshine Tour’s feeder circuit and enjoys the support of the legendary Ernie Els, among other patrons. The Betway Big Easy Blue Label Invitational is a series which the Big Easy co-hosts with the Bushveld Tour to provide more playing opportunities to members of both tours.