A breakdown of the six South Africans after round one that saw Justin Harding post the clubhouse lead before being overtaken late in the day.
Justin Harding – T6 after a 69
A superb start on debut from the one-time European Tour winner. Not overawed with the magnitude of the occasion, he moved quickly to 2-under and got his name and the South African flag on top of the leaderboard. A late bogey will probably not have soured a brilliant first round.
Louis Oosthuizen – T21 after a 71
Surrendered his early gains – which saw him join Harding at the top of the pile early on – with bogeys at 5 and 7. Oosthuizen once again got to -2 after birdies at 11 and the first of the par-5s on the back nine. A dropped shot on the second of the long holes moved him back to 1-under. As they say, you can’t win it on Thursday but you can lose it… SA’s No 1 is only five back.
Branden Grace – T29 after a 72
Plenty of birdies , plenty of bogeys. A real mixed bag which leaves him six back, but confident that he can move through the field if he manages to remove the mistakes.
Jovan Rebula (a) – T44 after a 73
Superb from the young amateur star – perhaps the phone calls from uncle Ernie paid off? Long way to go, but Rebula has one eye on the cut and a run at low amateur honours.
Trevor Immelman – T58 after a 74
Started with a par and a birdie before four bogeys in his next five holes. The 2008 champion rallied with a 1-under back nine to give himself a chance at making the cut.
Charl Schwartzel – T77 after a 77
Not much to cheer about for the 2011 winner. Three bogeys in a row from the fourth and a back nine 39 in a round that included just two birdies.
