Friday 13 January 2017 16:08, UK
Rory McIlroy is just one shot off the lead after firing a 67 in his first competitive round since November at the BMW SA Open in Gauteng.
South African journeymen Trevor Fisher Jnr and Keith Horne set the pace on six under in perfect conditions at the Glendower Golf Club, with McIlroy and last year's Challenge Tour No 1 Jordan Smith in a five-way share of third.
Sir Nick Faldo and Darren Clarke both enjoyed encouraging starts as they posted creditable 70s, with barely a third of the 156-man field managing to break par on a tough layout.
Tournament host Ernie Els found the going tough and dropped four shots over his last eight holes to slip to two over, while Ryder Cup star Andy Sullivan, the 2015 champion at Glendower, crashed to a 78 which included a triple-bogey eight at the second hole.
Fisher Jnr hit the front in the early stages as he staged a sensational recovery from a bogey at the 11th - his second - with seven birdies over the next eight holes.
The putts dried up for the veteran and he had to settle for eight straight pars which earned him the clubhouse lead, and only Horne was able to match his score among the later starters.
McIlroy predictably attracted the vast majority of the galleries in the morning session, and he did not disappoint his fans as he followed four opening pars from the 10th with four consecutive birdies.
The world No 2, making his first appearance in the event since 2009, rolled in another confident putt for birdie at the second, but his long game soon faltered as he missed the green at the fourth and fifth and narrowly failed to get up and down on each occasion.
McIlroy hit back with a stunning tee shot to the short sixth, which pitched to the left of the pin and rolled down the slope to within two feet of the cup, and he added another at the eighth while doing well to salvage pars at seven and nine from the trees.
The four-time major champion shares third with Smith, who got off to an uncertain start with a bogey at the first before responding with a birdie at the next and then three in four holes from the fifth.
Smith, one of Nick Dougherty's "five to watch" in Europe this season, blotted his card again at the 11th but again bounced back with another run of three birdies in four holes from the 14th.
Thomas Aiken was already in the clubhouse on five under having birdied his last five holes, and his fellow South Africans Dean Burmester and Jbe Kruger, who picked up five shots in six holes after the turn, made it a five-way tie for third.
English stalwart Mark Foster, who was forced to endure Qualifying School to retain his card for this season, opened with a solid 68 along with Oliver Fisher, who looked set to post the only flawless round of the day until he bogeyed the last.
Graeme Storm, the final player to retain his card on the Race to Dubai last season when Patrick Reed relinquished his membership, fired a 69 with Clarke and Faldo one further adrift.
