Thriston Lawrence leads the Investec South African Open Championship by a shot after firing an eight-under-par 64 to equal the course record he set last year.
Lawrence - who matched his score from last season's Blair Atholl Championship on the Sunshine Tour - posted nine birdies and just the one bogey in his first round at the Blair Atholl Golf & Equestrian Estate and stayed at the top despite charges from late starters Ross Fisher and Jens Fahrbring, who both shot 65.
German Matti Schmid had led for most of the day after teeing off at 6.20am and posting three eagles in an impressive 66.
But South African Lawrence, recently named last season’s Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year, jumped to the summit before Fisher finished strongly with three birdies in his last four holes and Swede Fahrbring joined the Englishman.
Scott Jamieson and JJ Senekal share fourth place with Schmid on six under while young Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin is in a six-strong group three off the lead after a 67 that included a hole-in-one.
Lawrence picked up a shot at the second and gave it straight back at the next but then the birdies came in pairs.
He gained shots at fifth and sixth, then two more after approach shots to the ninth and tenth left short birdie putts and he moved to six under and a share of the lead after two more at 13 and 14.
He led on his own for the first time after a little bit of magic at the par-four 16th. Lawrence missed the green with his approach and was left in an awkward spot but he bounced his chip into the banking to take some of the pace off and watched it head straight for the hole, hit the pin and drop.
He closed with a birdie but was made to work hard for it at the par-five, finding sand with his second from 252 yards and leaving a long, tricky bunker shot that he executed perfectly before knocking in another short putt.
Lawrence said: "It was good fun. I'm quite familiar with this golf course. I played a Sunshine Tour event (Blair Atholl Championship) last year and managed to shoot 64 in my last round to get the course record. It was great fun today, I really played nicely, managed to drop a few putts that I didn't do last week. It was nice fun."
Lawrence also revealed the helping hand his dad, who has coached him, offered on the greens.
He said: "My father gave me a nice tip. Stand a little further away from the golf ball. He just saw something."
On his round and playing the back nine five under, he added: "I just kept doing what I was doing - hitting good drives and my approach shots were really great. Make a few putts and sticking to my game plan."
This week's venue set the record for the longest ever used on the DP World Tour. It measures 8,161 yards and Lawrence said: "It's really long but I like that. I like to play full shots into the greens. It's a long golf course but I think it suits me.
"It's quite forgiving off the tee but you need to be in play to give yourself a full shot."
Five of the last seven editions of this event have been won by South Africans and Lawrence would love to add his name to the list.
"Everybody wants to get their hands on that trophy so that's a good start. But there's three days left so I've just got to pray and hope," he said.
