Tournament host Ernie Els made the ideal start to his bid for a sixth South African Open Championship hosted by the Coty of Ekurhuleni title with an opening round of 67 on Thursday.
Els carded six birdies and one bogey to set the clubhouse target of five under par at Glendower Golf Club in his native Ekurhuleni.
The 45 year old started on the back nine and recovered from a bogey on the 12th with birdies at the 13th, 14th and 16th to be out in 34, before picking up further shots on the second and fifth.
Els missed a good birdie chance on the seventh from 15 feet, but finished his round in style with a superb iron shot to two feet on the ninth for a closing birdie as he looks to make amends for a winless season in 2014 on both sides of the Atlantic.
"That was nice," said Els, who failed to register a top-three finish on The European Tour last season for the first time since 1992. "I was a little nervous here and there but it was so nice to play Glendower in front of my home crowd."
Els has reverted to a normal putter ahead of the ban on anchored strokes which comes into effect in 2016, and admitted short putts were "still a little bit nerve-wracking".
However, the home favourite and four-time Major winner was delighted with his iron shots on a course featuring thick rough surrounding the narrow fairways.
"I have been working on that a little bit, taking a little distance off and trying not to hit them too hard," he added.
"Coming off the fairway they were coming out nice and crisp so I enjoyed my iron shots today.
"We have had a nice start now and I want to keep it up, get better on the greens a little more and see where we end up."
Els holds a one shot lead over Spanish rookie Jordi Garcia Pinto, who had been four ahead of the field when he reached seven under par after 15 holes, only to bogey the 16th, 17th and 18th.
“Overall I’m really happy,” said Pinto, who was seventh on last season’s Challenge Tour rankings.
“You have to be really focused on this golf course, because if you go to the rough it’s a bogey every time.
“I’m playing really well; the three bogeys I made at the end were small.
“Last year was a great year for me and hopefully this year will be even better. It’s the best way to start the year and I will just try to keep playing like this and tomorrow hopefully I will shoot an even lower score.”
Playing alongside Els, Italy's Edoardo Molinari finished eagle, birdie to card a 69 and share third place with Sweden's Niclas Fasth, France's Raphaël Jacquelin and England's Tom Murray, while defending champion Morten Ørum Madsen had to settle for an opening 73.
Despite the demanding conditions, Els was not certain to remain top of the leaderboard, with fellow South African Erik van Rooyen moving into a share of the lead after 11 holes.
Van Rooyen carded birdies at the second and third and recovered from a bogey on the fourth to pick up further shots on the seventh, eighth, ninth and 11th to join Els on five under.
Compatriot Colin Nel was also four under after just six holes of his round, with Denmark's Lasse Jensen on the same score through ten holes.
Van Rooyen recovered from a bogey on the 12th with a birdie on the next and narrowly missed a chance to take the outright lead on the 16th before play was suspended at 1536 local time due to the threat of lightning.
Nel had also moved to five under after a birdie on the second, his 11th hole, before the stoppage.
Play resumed at 1640, and Jensen replaced Nel in the leading group with a birdie at the seventh, while Nel bogeyed the fourth.
