Casey Jarvis made a strong start to his late bid for Race to Dubai glory by grabbing the early lead at the Genesis Championship, where Ryan Fox also impressed. Fourth on the Race to Dubai ranking, Jarvis birdied the final hole at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club to regain the outright lead from nearest challenger Sanghun Shin on day one of the final event of the regular season.
Already a two-time winner this season, the 23-year-old is projected to overtake Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed and enter the DP World Tour Play-Offs in second place behind leader Eugenio Chacarra. "Felt really good out there," Jarvis said. "Hit a lot of good-quality iron shots and made some good putts. Been working really hard on the greens and to see it finally paying off a bit is really nice."
Jarvis made three birdies in a row at the third, fourth and fifth holes, then another at the eighth to reach four under alongside early leaders Antoine Rozner and Mikael Lindberg. A dropped shot at the ninth saw him turn in 33, but a brilliant approach from the rough at the 12th helped him regain a share of the lead. He then moved clear with a 32-footer for birdie to reach five under.
Frederic Lacroix briefly joined Jarvis at the top after converting from two feet at the sixth, but gave the shot back at the par-three seventh. Sanghun Shin, the Korean Tour Order of Merit leader, then birdied his final hole to sign for a 66. Jarvis answered by holing from seven feet for a closing birdie of his own to regain the outright lead.
It has been a breakout year for Jarvis, who claimed his maiden DP World Tour title in February at the Magical Kenya Open and won his second on home soil at the Investec South African Open Championship a week later.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing