Who is Christo Lamprecht? Meet the 6ft 8ins bomber making headlines at The Open
Who is Christo Lamprecht? Meet the 22-year-old South African amateur making headlines at the 151st Open Championship.
Who is Christo Lamprecht? Well, he's a 22-year-old South African amateur currently making a splash at the 151st Open Championship.
You might not be familiar with the name but Lamprecht has been making some waves for a while.
He won the 128th Amateur Championship in June, making him eligible for this Open. He is a prodigious ball striker and stands at 6ft 8ins tall.
When he won the Amateur Championship, he was the highest-ranked player in the field. He defeated Switzerland's Ronan Kleu 3&2 in the final.
With that victory he was also granted exemptions into the 2024 Masters and 2024 U.S. Open, so you'll be seeing more of him next year.
At the time, he said of his victory:
Where is he from?
Lamprecht was born in South Africa's Western Cape in 2001. He was introduced to the game by his father at the age of three.
He is the youngest of three children. He has two older sisters.
Much like others before him, he became absolutely obsessed by the game of golf. Before golf, he dabbled in tennis, cricket and rugby.
In 2017, he became the youngest player ever to win the South African Amateur Championship.
Other victories in his golf career include the 2016 Dimension Data Junior Open. He also played in the Junior Presidents Cup in 2017 and 2019.
Lamprecht is a senior at Georgia Tech. It is unknown when he will turn professional.
The perils of links golf.
A superb recovery from Christo Lamprecht. pic.twitter.com/xPc183Wiz1— The Open (@TheOpen) July 20, 2023
What else is there to know?
Well, he's very very long. But that's not surprising given his frame. He generates ball speed of more than 200mph (!)
"I can definitely hit it further than most people," he previously said. His stock driver yardage is approximately a 325-yard carry.
Lamprecht told Golf Digest before The Open:
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