Rafael Cabrera-Bello continued to be the man to catch as the first round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship reached the halfway stage.
The Spaniard, who won the Austrian GolfOpen two years ago with a stunning final round of 60, was playing Kingsbarns and, after going out in 31 with three birdies and an eagle, had picked up another shot on the back nine to lie six under after 13.
Louis Oosthuizen, who lifted the Claret Jug at St Andrews last year, was second on five under after carding six birdies and one bogey in 13 holes.
World Number One Luke Donald, looking to become the first man to win the money list on both sides of the Atlantic, was one under after eight, Lee Westwood two under after 11 and Rory McIlroy two over after seven after a triple bogey on the 13th at Kingsbarns.
Former amateur star Tom Lewis was boosting his chances of following the footsteps of McIlroy and securing his card for next season.
Lewis shot to fame at The Open Championship at Royal St George's this summer, shooting a 65 - the lowest round by an amateur in championship history - in the opening round.
He then helped Great Britain & Ireland win the Walker Cup earlier this month in Aberdeen before turning professional, finishing joint tenth on his debut in the paid ranks in Austria last week.
The 20 year old has six more events this season to earn around €200,000 he will need to secure full playing rights in 2012, but knows it is certainly possible after US Open Champion McIlroy finished third here in 2007 to do just that.
A top-three finish on Sunday would be enough for Lewis and that was where he found himself after 13 holes of his opening round at Kingsbarns, one of three courses used for the pro-am event.
Starting at the tenth, Lewis dropped a shot on the par four 11th but bounced back with four birdies in the next six holes to reach the turn in 33.
Another birdie on the first took him to four under par, two shots behind Cabrera Bello, alongside Ryder Cup star Graeme McDowell and another South African, Jaco Van Zyl.
Lewis picked up two further birdies on his back nine, but then ran up a double bogey seven on the ninth after compounding a wayward drive with three putts.
That meant a round of 68 to lie two shots behind Cabrera-Bello and former Open Champion Oosthuizen, who both shot 66.
Lewis said: "It's disappointing to shoot 68 after being six under playing the last, but it won't leave me too far behind and I would have taken it at the start of the day."
