Christiaan Basson led the home charge to open up a three-shot lead as The Race to Dubai got under way at the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa.
There was a large home contingent in the opening event of the 2016 season, headlined by defending champion Branden Grace and Major Championship winners Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel.
But it was Basson who led the way at Leopard Creek Country Club, firing an unblemished 64 to get to eight under and open up a comfortable gap to Schwartzel, Matt Ford and Mark Williams before play was suspended due to a weather warning with 39 players yet to finish their rounds.
All of the leading trio in the clubhouse teed off early in the morning and took advantage of the cooler conditions as temperatures soared in the afternoon on the edge of the Kruger National Park.
The man to buck that trend was three-time Leopard Creek winner Schwartzel who was playing the last as the horn sounded to end play at 1726 local time.
Basson's previous best European Tour finish in 30 events was a tie for tenth at The South African Open Championship Hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni in the 2014 season but he made an excellent start in his attempts to better that this week.
The 33 year old made birdies on the second, fifth, sixth and eighth to turn in 31 and four more followed on the 11th, 13th, 14th and 16th to move him to the summit.
His 64 matched his first round in last week's Lion of Africa Cape Town Open where he eventually finished in a share of eighth, and the four-time Sunshine Tour winner is delighted with his progress after making a recent change to his swing.
I played very well today, I was pleasantly surprised. I was coming into this week with good form but you can't expect that good a round first off - Christiaan Basson
"Hopefully I can keep playing the way I'm playing, golf is a funny game, you never know what is going to happen.
"We've just found something that I was doing wrong coming into Cape Town and that's just one swing thought that has kind of got me on track.
"It's not a big thing, it's a basic thing but it's made all the difference the last two weeks and I'm quite happy."
Basson finished a shot clear of Williams at the Vodacom Origins Of Golf Presented By Samsung in early October and the Zimbabwean was once again leading the chasing pack in Malelane.
He eagled the par four fourth and then picked up further shots on the sixth and seventh before a bogey on the eighth saw him turn in 32. Another bogey followed on the tenth but four birdies in his closing six holes, including the last two, got him to five under.
Englishman Ford, who secured his playing privileges with an impressive tie for seventh at the UBS Hong Kong Open, was also at that mark after an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys in his 67.
Schwartzel made a birdie-birdie start and when he picked up another shot on the sixth, it looked like business as usual for a man who has also finished second four times around this layout.
But back-to-back bogeys on the seventh and eighth slowed his progress before another birdie followed on the ninth and he turned in 33. Four consecutive pars followed but a hat-trick of birdies from the 14th powered the 2011 Masters Tournament winner up the leaderboard before the threat of storms brought him off the course.
There was then a group of seven players at four under led by Niclas Fasth who was playing in his 500th European Tour event.
The 43 year old Swede was presented with an ice bucket to mark the occasion and, after going out in the opening group of the day from the first, he carded an eagle, four birdies and two bogeys.
Vaughn Groenewald, Benjamin Hebert, Joost Luiten, Jean-Paul Strydom, Ryan Tipping and Borja Virto Astudillo were all then in the clubhouse alongside Fasth at four under.
Two-time champion Pablo Martin was then in the group at three under after a bogey-bogey-bogey finish.
Oosthuizen has enjoyed a mixed bag at this event down the years, with two runners-up finishes and six missed cuts, and he continued that theme with an opening 70.
The 2010 Open Championship winner started on the tenth and turned in 33 with birdies on the 12th, 13th, 15th and 18th. Another birdie followed on the first but a bogey on the second and a double-bogey on the third saw him drop back.
A shot was gained on the sixth but then given straight back on the seventh to leave Oosthuizen at two under, one shot clear of playing partner Grace.
Grace, who finished third in The Race to Dubai last week, turned in 37 after a double-bogey on the 14th before gains on the first and fourth but he gave a shot back after finding the water off the seventh tee.
Play was due to resume on Friday at 0630 local time.
