Haydn Porteous played his first nine holes in five-under before signing for a 64 and a share of the early lead at the Turkish Airlines Open at Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort.
The South African made his breakthrough at the 2016 Joburg Open, and won again earlier this season at the D+D REAL Czech Masters, establishing himself as a force on the the European Tour.
Starting from the 11th, he made three birdies in a row and added further gains at the 15th and 17th before two more birdies – and zero bogeys – helped him to -7 for the day.
Leading contenders Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose are both in action this week, but it was Porteous who grabbed the early headlines before being joined at the top by Nicolas Colsaerts. The Belgian played the front nine in 30 with birdies on the fourth, seventh, eighth and ninth.
Colsaerts eagled the par 5 12th and made two more birdies before his solitary drop at the 16th saw him drop down into a share with SA’s leading contender so far.
Rest of the South Africans (at 14:00):
