Matt Ford put the drama of his last European Tour outing behind him to fire a 67 and sit three shots off the lead after round one of the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
The Englishman went into the UBS Hong Kong Open - the last event before The Final Series - 117th in The Race to Dubai and battling to secure his playing privileges for 2016.
But a brilliant week at Hong Kong Golf Club saw him snatch a share of seventh and keep his card for the new campaign which began at Leopard Creek Country Club on Thursday.
The tension levels were not as high in Malelane as Ford carded an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys to sit behind Christiaan Basson, and the 37 year old was glad to move his focus to a new season.
"I didn't play my best, to be honest, but I scored well and really got the most out of the round," he said.
"I've always had some good rounds round this course at this tournament so it's nice to start off with a good score. Hopefully I'll put four good rounds together rather than just one or two.
It was pretty mad after Hong Kong. Four weeks have flown by to be honest, everything has calmed down now and we're moving on to next season - Matt Ford
"It was a fantastic year with some highs and lows but the highs completely outweighed the lows. For my first year, it was fantastic. I would have liked it to be a little less stressful at the end but it was a great way to finish the year."
Niclas Fasth was a shot further back after opening with a 68 on his 500th European Tour appearance. The Swede was returning to action after a five-week break with the luxury of knowing his card was safe courtesy of the career money list.
And the 43 year old believes the rest has done him good as he heads into the new campaign looking for a first win since the 2007 BMW International Open.
"Four under is good on any course, any day, any time of the year," he said. "I played well today, I could have shot lower but I'm very pleased.
"Several times during the round it looked like this could be a low one today. I kind of lost my momentum but four under is a good round, steady.
"I've genuinely taken an easy time, just practised a tiny bit and generally just chilled for a few weeks and it's done a world of good. You recover your energies and look forward to going again."
Joost Luiten was also at four under as he looks to improve on his worst European Tour season for seven years. A 50th place finish was the Dutchman's lowest end-of-season ranking since 2009 - such are his lofty standards - and he is confident he will compete this week.
"It was a pretty good score," he said.
"I played well. I hit a lot of greens and made some putts in the beginning, it was just a shame that the two greens that I missed were bogeys. That's just the little mistakes that I need to keep off the card a little bit more.
"I haven't been up there for a little while but I always feel competitive. It's always good to start a tournament with a decent score and try to get in there and hopefully go into the weekend in a nice spot."
