Alexander Björk, Grégory Havret and Haydn Porteous all fired opening rounds of 65 to sit at the top of a congested leaderboard after day one of the Tshwane Open.
Björk and Porteous were both bogey-free as they got to six under at Pretoria Country Club while Havret - who has played 400 more European Tour events than the pair combined - recorded eight birdies in his round.
The 40 year old Frenchman is seeking his fourth win but his first for nine years, while South African Porteous is looking to make it victories in back-to-back seasons as he rediscovers his form after a spell in the doldrums.
For Swede Björk, meanwhile, this is just a ninth event as he finds his feet on the European Tour after finishing seventh on last season's Road to Oman.
Australian Ben Eccles, Finn Mikko Korhonen, Scot Duncan Stewart, England's Toby Tree and South African Justin Walters were then all a single shot off the lead.
Porteous made just one cut in 15 attempts between last season's Open Championship and the Maybank Championship in February as he made a raft of swing changes, but is now beginning to show some of the form that saw him win the 2016 Joburg Open.
The 22 year old started on the back nine and turned in 32 with birdies on the 11th, 15th, 17th and 18th. A 20-footer on the fourth moved him to within one of the lead and when he left himself a flick into the par four sixth, he was in top spot.
"It's something that I have been really searching for for the last few months," he said. "I was in a dark place with my golf.
"To come back in my home country and in my home province and start to find my golf swing and really start to get some good scores under the belt is something I have really needed for a long time. And it feels good."
It's something that I have been really searching for for the last few months. I was in a dark place with my golf - Haydn Porteous
Havret made a blistering start with birdies on the second, fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth, the latter courtesy of a lengthy putt from off the green. Bogeys on the 11th and 13th dropped him out of the lead but he put his tee-shot on the par three 14th to tap-in range before holing a 15-footer on the penultimate hole.
"I'm obviously very pleased," he said. "I was pretty hot on the front nine. The back nine was a bit tougher and I didn't play that great but I had a couple of good wedges on 14 and 17. They saved me a bit for that back nine.
"With eight birdies overall, my game was quite hot today. Wedging was good and putting was good."
Björk started on the back nine with a birdie on the tenth and added further gains on the 15th, 17th and 18th to turn in 32. The 26 year old picked up another shot on the second and when he holed a left-to-righter from 12 feet on the seventh, he shared the lead.
"It is always nice to be on top," he said. "Then you can improve from there. I like to have a good start and then you don't have too much pressure in the second round and then you just go out and have a good round again.
"I played well today. I was solid off the tee, hitting straight and also hitting some good irons and some putts."
Eccles was bogey-free in his 66 while Stewart, Tree and Walters had a bogey apiece and Korhonen put two blemishes on his card.
Matthew Southgate put his approach to the ninth to ten feet for a closing eagle that left him at four under alongside fellow Englishman James Morrison, Spaniard Jorge Campillo, Scots Scott Henry and Scott Jamieson and South African pair Garth Mulroy and Peter Karmis.
There were then 17 players at three under with just five shots separating the top 65.
