Little known South African duo Martin Maritz and Tyrone Mordt sit atop the leaderboard for the Joburg Open after the first round. The players, ranked 688 and 811 in the world respectively, both carded 9-under par rounds of 62 over their respective first round courses – Maritz opening on the tougher East course, while Mordt started on the West course.
Their fellow South African, Branden Grace continued his recent good form by staking an early claim for the title with an opening 8-under par 63, also on West course which proved by far the easier of the two; only five players who started on the East course made the top-26 places by shooting 5-under or better.
Jamie Elson and Robert Dinwiddie flew the flag for the Brits, with both players starting with solid 6-under par 65s over the West course, while Wales’ Jamie Donaldson got his 2011 campaign off to a solid start with a 5-under par round of 66 to share 14th place with no less than 12 other players.
On a bunching leaderboard, Scot David Drysdale – one of the tipster trio for this event – recovered from a shaky start which saw him go 1-over through six holes to finish with a 67 and 4-under par, and into another 13-way tie for 27th place.
Defending champion Charl Schwartzel opened the defence of his title with a solid 3-under par 68 over the East course.
