Ken Borland

Early leader Jake Roos was relegated to second by fellow South African Grace’s brilliance, his superb 65 leaving him, astonishingly, three shots off the pace.

Two Englishmen, Matt Ford, like Roos celebrating his newly-acquired European Tour card, and Danny Willett, the winner of last weekend’s Nedbank Golf Challenge, were a further stroke back on six-under-par 66, while Spain’s Nacho Elvira and South Africans Michael Hollick and Tjaart van der Walt were on five-under.

Grace started well with a birdie on the par-four first hole and reached the turn in 31 after three more birdies on the third, sixth and seventh holes, before putting his foot down on the tougher back nine and collecting six more birdies.

Grace’s last triumph came in the 2012 Alfred Dunhill Links at St Andrew’s and his world ranking has plummeted to 117, but he did finish 31st in last season’s Race to Dubai. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old is determined to recapture the glories of 2012 and has made the perfect start to his 2015 European Tour campaign.

“If I play well, then the ranking will take care of itself. Last season wasn’t as bad as people say, it’s tough playing on both tours and I struggled in the U.S.

“But I feel very comfortable in Europe and South Africa and I’m close if not there already to my game in 2012. I’ve been playing well for the last month, I’m in a really good state of mind, I’ve gone back to my 2012 driver and I changed to a claw-grip on the greens three months ago, so that’s just getting better.
“Plus it was obviously a mistake in 2013 to part ways with Zack [Rasego, his caddy], but I’ve learnt from that, we’ve had a good chat and that was the end of it. When he pulls me off a shot, I trust him,” Grace said after his faultless round.

Defending champion Charl Schwartzel fired seven birdies but it was another bad day in terms of consistency for South Africa’s highest-ranked golfer, with swing mistakes and errors on the green leading to four bogeys, which left him seven off the pace on three-under after a 69.

Grace managed to avoid the sort of momentum-killers that have been plaguing Schwartzel recently.

“It’s one of those courses where you can get going and I didn’t really make any mistakes. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have a look at a bogey in my round, but it’s nice to get the ball-striking going and make a few putts. It was good shot after good shot, I like this course, it suits my game,” a delighted Grace said.

Roos also had one of those glorious days, a bogey on the par-three 12th, when he missed the green off the tee, his only blemish. The 34-year-old knew it was going to be a fine day when he eagled his opening hole, the par-four 10th.

“The first hole, when I holed out with my second from 163 metres, was just the ice-breaker I needed. The five-iron came out perfectly, it looked good all the way but I couldn’t see it go in because of the slope of the green. One guy put his hand up at the green and I just started laughing and took it from there,” Roos said after his fabulous round.

“I felt good about the day before I started, I was comfortable, swinging nicely and I had some great birdie putts on the back nine, where there are more birdie opportunities. The front nine is quite tough, especially the opening holes. Six is the only really short one and I was able to take advantage there, and then I had a nice putt on the last from 15 feet. The ninth is playing long and I had to hit a six-iron in, a bit into the wind. But I was rolling the putts very nicely today.”

The 36-year-old Ford, who has only just won his European Tour card after nine previous visits to Tour School, bogeyed the first hole but only dropped one more shot, on the par-five 13th. Superb iron-play gave him plenty of birdie opportunities and the man who was toying with the idea of giving up golf to become a postman converted eight of them.

“I’m very happy, it’s a dream start to the season after getting my card for the first time. The swing felt good and the accuracy of my iron-play – I was inside 10 feet nine or ten times – gave me lots of opportunities and my putting was solid,” Ford said.

But none of the leaders will be sleeping easy with Willett, who triumphed at Sun City in such emphatic fashion, lurking only four strokes back from Grace after a faultless 66.

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While everyone sympathises with bowlers in the shortest version of the game, there is tremendous pressure on batsmen as well, with double-figure run-rates expected as a norm even under the pressure of a chase. Gayle, arguably the foremost T20 batsman in the world, says partnerships are the key despite his own reputation for single-handedly destroying teams.

“When you lose a couple of early wickets then there’s always even more pressure, but with Symes we were able to build a big partnership, which is very important. If you have a large partnership, then you have a good chance of winning the game,” Gayle said at the Wanderers nets on Wednesday..

“But then I got out at a crucial time, which could’ve cost us the game, and as batsmen we need to maintain our discipline as much as possible. But thanks to Symes we managed to get there in the end.”

“It was a bit different batting with a world-class batsman like Chris, he didn’t say much, just ‘keep batting mon’. We chased well though and getting a partnership going is the key. I just wanted to get him on strike and watch from the other end as he unleashed the fury,” Symes said.

The pair came together in the fourth over with the home side struggling on 36 for three, with Gayle belting 56 off 38 balls to set up victory, but it was Symes who took the Lions home with a beautifully-paced 58 not out off 50 balls.

“It’s nice to come in earlier and have more time to construct an innings, it’s not that easy just coming in and swinging. I’m not really that sort of player, I like more time. For me cricket is about playing decent shots and getting rewarded for them,” Symes said.

The Lions, who have made a strong start to the season with just three defeats in nine matches, next play the Chevrolet Warriors on Friday, with the struggling Eastern Cape side suffering a 74-run thrashing at the hands of the Knights at the Wanderers.

But before writing off the Warriors’ chances, it’s important to note that the match will be played in East London, where conditions are far removed from what the Lions are used to up on the Highveld.

“The type of decks you get on the coast, especially in East London or Port Elizabeth, suit the Warriors better, they know the right lengths and areas to bowl on those pitches,” Symes pointed out.

The fans at Buffalo Park will no doubt be looking forward to the match as they get the chance to experience the magic and charm of Chris Gayle first-hand.

The laid-back Jamaican knows his job is not only to win matches for the Lions, who have been very welcoming, but also to entertain.

“They are like family now and I have picked up a few dance moves from them, it’s a very jovial bunch. I was actually fined for my performance after the first game (Gayle also took four wickets) and was the first one to drink a beer in the fines meeting.

“I’m hungry to perform for the franchise, to take the team to the Champions League and make the fans happy. They have given me a fantastic reception. They come to be entertained and I’m very sad when that does not happen. I want to give back to them as much as possible,” Gayle said.

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