Ian Garbutt of England, American Ronnie McCann and reigning Canon European Masters champion, Sven Struver, of Germany share the lead after the first round of the Mercedes-Benz - Vodacom South African Open Championship at Stellenbosch after shooting four under par rounds of 67.
Temperatures soared into the mid-30's during the afternoon, and defending champion Ernie Els, two-time US Open Champion, was one who played in the scorching heat. Els was one under at the turn but dropped shots at the 10th and 11th to shoot a level par 71 to be four shots off the lead.
Only eight players beat par in the afternoon compared to double that number in the morning.
Six time major winner Nick Faldo was out at 07:10 and praised the conditions, producing two birdies in the back nine to finish on 70, one under par.
Tied in second place on three under were Germany's Alexander Cejka and South Africa's James Kingston.
They were hotly pursued by a group of nine players on two-under par 69s including Ireland's Paul McGinley who was one of two players to shoot a hole-in-one.
He claimed his ace at the seventh while England's Tony Wall produced his at the 13th to finish on a two-over par 73.
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