Johannesburg - South African Richard Sterne and German Maximilian Kieffer shared the lead on 63 after the first round of the Joburg Open at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club here on Thursday.
The pair are two strokes ahead of South Africans MJ Daffue, Bryce Easton and Tyrone Mordt as well as Sweden's Joakim Lagergren and American Peter Uihlein in an event co-sanctioned by the European Tour and local Sunshine Tour.
VIDEO: Joburg Open Round 1 highlights
David Horsey of England, Frenchman Alexandre Kaleka, Espen Kofstad of Norway and Brazilian Adilson da Silva are among a dozen golfers a further shot back on 66 after an opening round staged in clear, hot South African summer conditions.
Pre-tournament favourite and 2011 US Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa began with a 68, while compatriot and defending champion Branden Grace would have expected to do better than a 72 after the first 18 holes.
Sterne started his round superbly with three consecutive birdies, followed by another on eight and an eagle on nine where a driver and a four-iron brought him to the edge of the green and his deft chip dropped into the hole.
The hot streak cooled somewhat on the back nine with Sterne adding two birdies to maintain a trend of good starts having opened with a 62 at the Dubai Desert Classic last week, where he came second to Scotland's Stephen Gallacher.
Tour rookie Kieffer was a model of consistency, rattling off five birdies on the front nine and a further three on the inward journey while not dropping a single stroke.
Each competitor in the 210-strong field chasing a 206,050-euro (S278,744) first prize, plays one round over the west course and one over the longer, more challenging east course, where the final two rounds will be staged.
Leading scores after first round of Joburg Open over par-71, 6618-metre west course and par-72 6942-metre east course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club Thursday (RSA unless noted):63 - Richard Sterne, Maximilian Tikieffer (GER)
65 - MJ Daffue, Bryce Easton, Joakim Lagerdren (SWE), Tyrone Mordt, Peter Uihlein (USA)
66 - Tyrone Ferreira, Trevor Fisher, Damien McGrane, David Horsey (ENG), Alexandre Kaleka (FRA), Espen Kofstad (NOR), James Kingston, Jake Redman, Adilson da Silva (BRA), Ockie Strydom, Allan Versfeld, Jaco van Zyl
67 - Felipe Aguilar (CHI), Thomas Aiken, Gary Boyd (ENG), Dean Burmester, Ryan Cairns (ZIM), George Coetzee, Josh Cunliffe, Niclas Fasth (SWE), Darren Fichardt, Richard Finch (ENG), Lorenzo Gagli (ITA), Ignacio Garrido (ESP), Ross McGowan (ENG), Keith Horne, Lee Slattery (ENG), Alessandro Tadini (ITA), Tjaart van der Walt
68 - Christiaan Basson, Oliver Bekker, Merrick Bremner, David Drysdale (SCO), Jamie Elson (ENG), Oliver Fisher (ENG), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Lasse Jensen (DEN), Jbe Kruger, Phillip Price (WAL), Atti Schwartzel, Charl Schwartzel, Anthony Snobeck (FRA), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Danie van Tonder