Sleepless nights were proving no problem for Shaun Norris as the home favourite fired an excellent opening 64 at the 2022 Steyn City Championship.
The South African was bogey-free as he moved to eight under at The Club at Steyn City and revealed he was loving being on home soil with his family.
Norris spent three months away on the Japan Golf Tour between August and November last year but he made the most of the trip, winning the Japan Open Golf Championship for his sixth win in Japan to go with another win on the Asian Tour and two on the Sunshine Tour.
On his return he finished third at the Joburg Open and has since also secured a top ten at the Ras al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital to sit 51st in the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.
Life is also going well off the course after the arrival of his second child - a daughter named Riley-Grace - two weeks ago and, with his brother Kyle on the bag, Norris is loving life in South Africa.
It's a blessing to be back home to spend time with them and see them and have dinner with them and wake up in the mornings to see them as well
"At the end of the day, my brother and I had a lot of fun, we were smiling and having fun and really enjoying the day," he said.
"It's lovely being back home and spending time with the family.
"Even now, with the little one being born two weeks ago, I'm not getting much sleep but overall it's a blessing to be back home to spend time with them and see them and have dinner with them and wake up in the mornings to see them as well."
Norris holed a long putt on the ninth for his eighth birdie of the day to complete his first round, and was happy with his day's work.
"Hitting fairways I think is always key, giving yourself a lot of chances but staying patient because you're not always going to make every putt you see," he said. "I was patient enough out there today.
"I can't complain. I hit the ball nicely... I left a couple out there but overall I'm pretty happy with everything that happened.
"Off the tee I was very solid, I never put myself into any problems so that makes life a lot easier.
"Putting, I was giving myself good chances and converting them made it a lot easier as well at the end of the day."
