American Bill Haas and Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts shared the first-round lead at the Nedbank Golf Challenge on Thursday, but they were far from a dominant position as eight of the 12-man field finished the day within two strokes of the pair.

Haas and Colsaerts both shot two-under-par 70s to head the leaderboard, with Louis Oosthuizen, Paul Lawrie and defending champion Lee Westwood just a stroke back.

Five other golfers were level-par after the first round, including former world number one Martin Kaymer and South African Charl Schwartzel.

On a cloudless, boiling hot day in the Pilanesberg, the 12-man field struggled in tough conditions, with a shifting breeze and the thickness of the rough causing much uncertainty.

Oosthuizen, the highest-ranked South African golfer in the world, claimed the early lead after he rebounded from a one-over-par outward nine, featuring three bogeys and two birdies, with a solid two-under 34 coming in, for a 71 overall.

But Haas, a Sun City rookie, stormed to four-under-par through 15 holes before slipping back to a 70 after dropped shots on the par-three 16th and par-four 18th holes.

Colsaerts, playing in the two-ball after Haas, produced the most consistent round of the day with just a single bogey, at the daunting par-four eighth hole.

The long-hitting Ryder Cup hero, also making his debut in the NGC, said it was hard work making allowance for the wind as well as altitude and the thickness of the semi-rough.

“The wind was a bit difficult to read. It always seemed to be coming off the side,” Colsaerts said.

“And with the effects of altitude and different grass to what we’re used to in the rough, it was very easy to get your yardage calculations wrong.”

The 30-year-old Colsaerts is one of the most entertaining golfers in the field, given his length off the tee, but he said he felt compelled to rein himself in because of the testing conditions.

“I didn’t use a very aggressive game plan, even with the driver when I used it. I think I played like everyone else, hitting the same spots, because you were better off hitting an iron from the fairway than a lob-wedge out of the kikuyu rough.

“I probably played close to my best in terms of management off the tee.”

Haas had the chance to separate himself from the rest of the field, but the American, whose father Jay is playing in the Champions Challenge on the same course, was satisfied with his round.

“I’d done well to get to four-under. There was a bit of breeze out there, the wind showed its teeth today, and, after missing a short putt on 16, I was happy to make a 10-footer for bogey on the last,” Haas said.

“I didn’t win it today, but I’m not out of it either.”

England’s Justin Rose, one of the pre-tournament favourites, will have to put pressure on the leaders from afar after he struggled to a one-over-par 73. The world number four birdied the two par-fives around the turn, but then picked up three successive bogeys from the 11th to 13th holes.

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Merrick Bremner was at 225:1 to win the South African Open at the start of the first round on Thursday.

I know because I was reliably informed by a punter who had bet on the 26-year-old to win the second-oldest national open in world golf.

A few hours later, Bremner was atop the leaderboard with an eight-under-par 64 and was the overnight leader after the first round of the co-sanctioned European/Sunshine tour event at Serengeti Golf Estate near Kempton Park.

Those odds will now be considerably shortened and I’m left ruing the fact I didn’t talk to the punter a day earlier.

Bremner, who was in the sixth three-ball out at 7.05am, came roaring out the blocks with birdies on the first two holes and he also claimed three successive birdies coming in to shoot a brilliant 30 for the front nine. The Pretoria resident then eased off on the back nine, coming home in 34.

It’s not that the chunky golfer was getting lazy either. Rather, it was a conscious decision to make sure he converted his great start into a great round.

“I played fantastically on the front nine, I didn’t miss a green and in theory I could have shot 28. Then I made the turn and still hit good shots, but I started thinking a bit more and playing clever golf. I wasn’t as aggressive as normal because I wanted to hold my round together and post a decent score, not four or five-under. I made sure I hit the fairway and then made sure I hit the right part of the green for a makeable chance,” Bremner explained after his round.

Bremner, who began playing golf just down the road at Kempton Park Golf Club, says his clear thinking on the course was thanks to the work he’s done with a sports psychologist.

“I think it’s got a lot to do with the work I’ve been putting in behind the scenes, not only on the golf course but also with a mental coach by the name of Tim Goodenough. Now my thought patterns and decision-making on the course have changed. Now I can see the bigger picture and it’s not just about brawn, it’s sometimes about the brain as well,” Bremner said.

Bremner is renowned for being a big-hitter and his biggest drive was 345 metres, into the wind, on the par-five 16^th. Lady Luck was on his side there, though, as she kept his pulled tee-shot out of serious trouble and allowed him to hit his second over the water and on to the green in two, leading to his eighth birdie.

But on a course that has plenty of threats with lethal rough just off the fairways, the fact that he did not make a single bogey suggests the up-and-coming Bremner is on track to make a big name for himself this weekend.

Bremner is two strokes ahead of another young South African in Matthew Carvell, but Henrik Stenson (-6) and Charl Schwartzel (-4) are lurking dangerously in the top 10.

Carvell is a Sunshine Tour journeyman, having never finished higher than 48^th on the Order of Merit, but the 27-year-old is just going to enjoy the experience.

“This is my first SA Open and my first press conference! It’s a little bit overwhelming so I’m just trying to enjoy the week and see what happens. Maybe I’ll get some good TV coverage!” he joked.

Schwartzel was also impressive in posting six birdies, while his only blemish came on the par-three 12^th, which he double-bogeyed. The 2011 Masters champion said it was a useful reminder of how wide-awake you had to be on the sloping Serengeti greens.

“I made that double by four-putting. It was from off the green, but I used the putter four times, which wasn’t ideal. But the greens are severe and you’ve got to pay really good attention to where you hit your second shots. You can get caught off-guard here very quickly and make a soft bogey on these greens, so you’ve got to be wide awake,” Schwartzel said.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-11-16-south-african-open-bremners-flight-to-the-top

A quarter of the Fancourt Links is made up of par-threes and Nicolas Colsaerts birdied them all on his way to a commanding four-shot lead in the first round of the Volvo Golf Champions on Thursday.

Colsaerts is known for his no-holds-barred driving off the tee, but his brilliant nine-under-par 64 was actually set apart by his superb iron-play and clinical putting as he birdied the par-three second, eighth, 11th and 17th holes.

“I’ve never birdied all the par-threes on a course before and you don’t see that on a scorecard that often. You’re not really looking for birdies on the par-threes, I’m thinking more that I can reach most of the par-fives in two, so it was a bonus,” Colsaerts said after shattering the Fancourt Links course record.

The Belgian was level-par through seven holes after bogeying the par-four sixth hole after a three-putt, but Colsaerts, playing his first competitive round at Fancourt, began to work out the intricacies of the course as he finished the front nine with successive birdies. His final stretch was nothing short of magnificent as he closed with four straight birdies – 3-4-2-4.

“I’m very happy, to have the course record on a course like this is quite a thing. I’ve heard about this place for a long time, after the President’s Cup was played here and it being the number one course in South Africa,” Colsaerts said.

Although the wind played a relatively minor part for Fancourt, Colsaerts said he still had to be watchful.

“It was moving a little bit, it switched at times. It was pretty calm at the start but then there was a bit more wind after the ninth. You still had to look at it. I hope it stays like this because the course will be pretty difficult if the wind gets up,” Colsaerts, who was in the fourth two-ball off the first tee at 10am, said.

Apart from the irritating three-putt on the sixth, the only time the 29-year-old was semi-concerned was on the short par-four 14th hole, when he found the fairway bunker. Colsaerts chipped out to just short of the green and then made his up-and-down for par.

The world number 76 seems to have a thing for Volvo-sponsored tournaments, having won the Volvo China Open in April and then reaching the semifinals of the Volvo World Matchplay Championships in Andalucia before losing to Ian Poulter.

“I like to think I’m having a love affair with Volvo, but there are still three rounds to go!” Colsaerts laughed. “But the Matchplay – beating Goosen, McIlroy, Vegas and McDowell – was when I really understood that I can be a top-class golfer.”

The quality of his golf on Thursday was immaculate and the big-hitting lover of house music was still enjoying the feeling when he spoke to the media.

“I just seemed to hole out all day, every birdie was from close range and I took every chance from six-to-eight feet. I was hitting my irons very close and, after you’ve done that three or four times, you just keep firing at the pins. I kept hitting the fairways as well and it was probably one of the best rounds I’ve played, if not the best,” Colsaerts said.