McKibbin struggles to opening round 76 at SDC Championship

David Ravetto and Kristian Krogh Johannessen set the pace in testing conditions at the inaugural SDC Championship in South Africa, where Tom McKibbin sits shots adrift after an opening round 76.

Costly double bogeys at 4 and 13 hampered the 20-year-old's progress at St Francis Links, where a couple of birdies were cancelled out at the 11th and 16th on his way to a four-over 76.

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France's Ravetto and Norway's Johannessen defied winds gusting up to 35mph to sit top of the standings on five-under par, with Scotland's Connor Syme a further shot back.

"It was very challenging, to be fair," the 27-year-old Scot said. "There were a lot of tees moved up to make it a bit more playable for us, but it was tough.

"You had to keep your ball flight down and I used my experience from playing in Scotland by hitting a lot of low drivers and punched shots into the wind. Overall, I definitely made a few mistakes but a lot of good birdies.

"I drove it nicely and that's really the main challenge of this golf course. The fairways are generous enough but, if you miss them, you are absolutely screwed."

Ravetto, who is ranked 579th in the world, carded six birdies and a solitary bogey in his 67, while Johannessen recorded the only bogey-free round of the day.

However, the shot of the day belonged to Netherlands' Joost Luiten, who recovered from a triple-bogey seven on the eighth with the aid of an albatross on the par-five 13th in his opening 69.