Jordan Smith signed for a bogey-free, 7-under 63 on Thursday to take a share of the lead at the Joburg Open.
Smith withdrew from the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in February and has not made a start since.
“It was just nice to finally get a round under our belts after an unfortunate last couple of weeks,” said the Englishman.
“But yeah, just really nice. Like I say we haven’t really played much golf the last couple of weeks due to a few injuries but I’m really happy.
“It’d be great to go obviously the four days and hopefully get the win.”
China’s Wenyi Ding also stayed bogey-free for his share of the lead in South Africa. Ding is playing in his rookie season after earning a DP World Tour card as the inaugural winner of the Global Amateur Pathway ranking last year.
“I played pretty well today. Some short irons gave me a lot of birdie chances and I made a lot of putts,” said Ding.
England’s Callum Tarren and Marco Penge are tied in second place at 6-under alongside South Africans Jayden Schaper and Malcolm Mitchell as well as Germany’s Nicolai von Dellingshausen.
