Irish golfer Padraig Harrington fired a six-under-par 66 on Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
It was a good start to the $5-million invitation tournament at the Gary Player Country Club for members of the European team that won the Ryder Cup two months ago.
Harrington was part of the side that pipped the United States by one point at Welsh resort Celtic Manor after a four-day thriller and is followed on the leaderboard by three other European heroes.
Ross Fisher fired a 67, fellow Englishman and world number one Lee Westwood began with a 68 and larger-than-life Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez carded a 69 in a first round interrupted by mid-afternoon rain and lightning.
Defending champion Robert Allenby of Australia and Englishman Justin Rose had rounds of 70 and the best South Africans were three-time Challenge winner Ernie Els and reigning British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen a shot behind.
Edoardo Molinari, the older of two Italian brothers making a major impact on international golf and the fifth Ryder Cup star in action at Sun City, also had a 71 to share sixth place.
South African Retief Goosen and Dane Anders Hansen matched the course par of 72 and another local, Tim Clark, was the sole competitor to end his round over with a 73 that included a seven at the par-four sixth.
Harrington, the 39-year-old son of a policeman who has won the British Open twice and US PGA title once, was a study in steadiness as he snatched six birdies — including four in a row from the eighth — and did not drop a shot.
Fisher lay seven under with two holes left on an overcast day at a golf course that has often resembled a sauna during the “Africa’s Major”, which turns 30 this month.
But a double-bogey six at the par-four penultimate hole cost the 2010 Irish Open winner dearly and he had to settle for second spot in an event offering a $1,25-million first prize.
Westwood, who recently replaced American golf icon Tiger Woods at the top of the international rankings, grabbed five birdies and one bogey as he attempts to go one better than 2000 when pipped by Els in a play-off. — AFP