Thriston Lawrence, who tied for fifth at the DP World Tour Championship last week, matched his lowest round on the DP World Tour with a flawless 8-under 62 to take the opening lead at the Joburg Open.
"The putter was hot and I just felt like I was reading them really nicely," he said. "The speed was good and compared to last year the greens are quite firm so you can play some nice shots and coming in with an eight iron you can plan the shot with all the undulations on these greens.
"I got the wind right today, I was pin high quite a few times and the proximity to the greens was good as well. The putter was on fire so I'm quite happy with the opening round.
"I had a fun day with the guys out there, they both played well, they didn't make as many putts as I did but all in all a good day."
Lawrence narrowly missed out on securing a PGA Tour card for the 2024 season in Dubai.
"It's unfortunate but you're going to miss a lot of cuts by one shot, you're going to finish second by one quite a few times, it happens in life and we're used to it," he said.
"It fuels you up but it's a long way to go until the end of the year to get one of those ten cards, I'm just out here trying to do my job and enjoy it."
Fellow South African Nikhil Rama lies in second place at 5-under.
Ten players are tied in third place at 4-under including England's Dan Bradbury and Andy Sullivan, as well as Scotand's Stephen Gallacher.
