Christo Lamprecht says the gene for being tall runs in his family. Photo: Getty Images/Gregory Shamus
At 6'8″ in socks, Christo Lamprecht is used to being looked down upon. Just not the best golfers in the world. At least not before Thursday. Players like Rory McIlroy, Scotty Sheffler and the rest may have to start getting used to craning their necks high as the 22-year-old Georgia Tech student from South Africa begins to loom on their horizon.
In a brilliant first round of 66 at Hoylake on Thursday, Lamprecht, who won the 128th amateur championship at Hillside a few weeks ago, to qualify for this Open, soared to the top of the leaderboard.
p>Of course he shouldn't stay there. The last amateur to win the Open was Bobby Jones back in 1930. But it's not hard to imagine that Lamprecht will have a major impact on the professional game when he graduates next year.
First, he hits the ball for an absolute mile. You might think this isn't surprising given Lamprecht's BFG-length leverage, but it's the acceleration and balance in his action that's so impressive for such a tall man. Even Bryson DeChambeau, who knows a thing or two about big shots, was forced to side with Lamprecht after watching his swing speed in practice earlier this week.
What did he say? “He probably just wanted me to have my length,” Lamprecht smiled in the mixed zone after the first round was over. «No I dont know. I don't think the purpose of golf is to hit him far. I think links golf is the real test of golf and that's how golf should be played. Get out there, hit as hard as I can and hit 400 yards, it's fun, it's cool. But that's not something I focus on or worry about at all.» Why do you? Not when you can sleep 325 yards on it.
Lamprecht averaged that distance from the tee on Thursday, the longest in the field. And he admitted that he was holding back. «I can get him to carry 340 yards, but I don't want to,» he said. “Not in this weather. Not in golf links. It rolls far enough.”
What a shot. What a day for Christo Lamprecht. pic.twitter.com/RdWODgk8Dl
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 20, 2023
The South African lacks confidence, that's for sure. But he doesn't seem in the least bit big-headed. He gave a charming non-judgmental post-round interview, happily answering questions about everything from his shoe size («Pretty average. $13 so nothing out of the ordinary. I know feet are much bigger in America») to his suspicious American accent («I've had a lot of trouble over the past year and a half with all my friends back home in South Africa. Obviously I'm a full-fledged American now, which I don't like. Don't know why he changed. I can't bring him back.») pickleball style («We do this a lot at Tech. Pickleballs are the #1 favorite all weekend»).
Maybe he should try signing up for a game with Georgia Tech classmate Christopher Eubanks, who reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals last week? At the very least, they would be the same height as Eubanks at 6'7″. Lamprecht laughed.
Questions about height kept coming. Was everyone in his family tall? “My father is 6ft 4in and is the shortest of the last five generations,” he smiled. «My grandfather was about 6 feet 8 inches and my great grandfather was 7 feet.»
Christo Lamprecht won 128th amateur championship and qualified for Open Credit: Shutterstock/Peter Powell
Has he ever played with anyone taller? «Tommy Morrison. He's a freshman in Texas. 6 feet 10 inches. Recently I looked up to him and he was like, «Hey, big guy.» I thought, «Okay, fair enough.» This took me a little by surprise. But he is quite tall.”
It will be fun to watch Lamprecht over the next few days and years. Louis Ousthuisen, the 2015 Open champion, played him on Thursday and knows him better than most. It was through the Ousthuisen Academy in South Africa that Lamprecht first emerged at the age of 14 or so. “Then he was already taller than me,” recalls Osthuizen, laughing. “But no, Chris has a game. Today he hit the ball very well, and then when he had problems, he just returned to the game. He rolls the ball beautifully on the grass. And the length he hits from the tee, you know, there are a lot of bunkers that aren't used in the game, which is a big advantage…
Fairway bunkers weren't the only thing Lamprecht managed to avoid in his first round. Oosthuizen, at 5ft 10in, managed to hit his head on a low-hanging doorframe as he exited the mixed zone after completing his media duties. Lamprecht, who arrived on the scene moments later, was told of his mentor's misfortune and warned to be careful.
«I understand,» he said as he passed. He certainly seems.
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