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Goosen leads home charge in Durban

Retief Goosen
Retief Goosen

Home favourite Retief Goosen and Germany's Alex Cejka shared the lead after the first round of a rain-affected South African Open after scores of eight-under-par 64 in Durban.

The pair were a shot clear of world number 12 Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel after their 65s, while Englishman David Dixon was in a group of six players a further shot back on six under.

Amongst them was Spaniard Carlos Del Moral with the rest - Richard Sterne, Jaco Ahlers, Garth Mulroy and Tyrone van Aswegen - all South African.

Of the Irish, Damien McGrane is on one-under, with Michael Hoey on three-over.

Ten others, including Open champion Oosthuizen, David Drysdale from Scotland and England's Richard McEvoy, were on five under following a low-scoring day at the Durban Country Club, which was effectively day one after organisers abandoned play yesterday less than two and a half hours after the start because the constant rain main conditions unplayable.

Round two, weather permitting, is now scheduled for tomorrow and organisers plan a cut to 50 as they bid to squeeze in 36 holes on Sunday.

Two-time former champion Goosen came into the day having already completed four holes yesterday, but despite his success, he endured a mixed day with two bogeys coming in alongside a pair of eagles and six birdies.

Speaking afterwards, he said: ‘Obviously, that's the way you want to start. It went nicely for me yesterday, those four holes in the rain when I managed to get two birdies and then on the first this morning I got another one to keep the momentum going.

‘I'm off to a good start so hopefully I can try and start building on this tomorrow afternoon. Then we'll see what happens on Sunday if we play 36 or 18.’

Cejka, a four-time winner on the European Tour, went through his round faultless with his eight birdies split across both nines.

‘It was a good day,’ he said. ‘The practice rounds were not so good for me, but today was excellent.

‘There's still three rounds to go, which is a long, long way. Hopefully I can play well in the next three days.’

Four-time winner Els, who is the highest ranked player in the field, has had an up and down year - his last Tour victory coming back in March - but is aiming to now build on his effort today.

‘I missed quite a few putts on the front nine and was getting a little annoyed with myself, but I played a really solid back nine," added Els, who came home in 31.

‘You know I just hit the ball really nicely and that's something I can take out of today.

‘I really feel like I'm solid from tee to green and you need to be on this course. Hopefully that back nine will give me a lot of confidence for the weekend.’

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