GOLF: Ireland's lesser-known professionals came to the fore in Cape Town yesterday with Peter Lawrie, Padraig Dooley and Gary Murphy all coming in under par and all featuring in the top 20 after the first round of the £500,000 South African Open.

Dubliner Lawrie leads the Irish challenge after a four-under-par 68 saw him in fourth place, trailing first-round leader Jean Hugo of South Africa by two shots.

Cork's Dooley lies a further two shots behind after a first round 70, while Kilkenny's Murphy hit a 71 and is also within striking distance of the leader.

Leader Hugo is attempting to regain his European Tour card and his flawless 66 established a course record at Erinvale. He lost his card by just over £5,500 after finishing 120th on the Order of Merit in 2002, and admitted he had learnt the hard way how hard he needs to work to succeed.

"My first year I finished well (34th on the money list) and it didn't really seem that difficult," the 27-year-old said. "I finished 12th in the South African Open at the start of last year and just thought the same form was going to continue, but I wasn't really focused enough at all.

"Obviously I've learned the hard way. I am prepared to do a lot of work to get back on Tour. I'm glad I played well today just to show myself, not anybody else, that I can do it. I don't know what my schedule will be for the year, but I will play in any tournament I can, and on the Challenge Tour, to keep going."

Victory on Sunday and the £79,000 first prize would instantly solve Hugo's problems and give him a two-year exemption, but he will face a tough challenge on the difficult Erinvale course which can be buffeted by strong winds from the nearby Atlantic.

Defending champion Tim Clark shares second place with James Kingston after both men shot 67s. Clark was happy with his day's work. "I played nicely today and three of the birdies were from within a foot. I've had some pain in the wrist, but it's feeling fine at the moment. I pretty much have to live with it and it's one of the reasons I've taken time off. I went four weeks without hitting a golf ball to try and let my wrist recover from last year."

Pre-tournament favourite Justin Rose had to settle for a level-par 72 after driving out of bounds on the 15th, while playing partner and World Cup team-mate Paul Casey fared even worse with a double bogey, triple bogey and dropped shots at the last five holes to be round in 78.

Former British Open champion Paul Lawrie recovered from a double bogey seven on his fourth hole to card a 72, but Lee Westwood's struggles continued as he came home in 40 for a 75.

One of the day's biggest horror stories belonged to England's Gary Emerson, however, who was level par for nine holes after starting at the 10th, only to record an eight-over-par 12 on the first with visits to the water hazard and out of bounds.

Unfortunately's Ireland's Ciarán McMonagle had an even worse start, finishing bottom of the field after a nightmare 15 over 87.

Ireland's other starters yesterday had mixed fortunes, with Tim Rice and Graeme McDowell both have a chance of making the cut after first-round 75s. Gavin McNeill's 77 makes his task to survive for the weekend a little harder, though.

(Brit & unless stated, Irish in bold, (x) denotes amateur)

66 (6 under) - J Hugo (Rsa)

67 (5 under) - T Clark (Rsa), J Kingston (Rsa).

68 (4 under) - I Pyman, Peter Lawrie, A Coltart, D Drysdale, R Muntz (Rsa).

69 (3 under) - I Garbutt, B Vaughan (Rsa), D Howell, P Nyman (Swe), T van der Walt (Rsa).

70 (2 under) - I Keenan, S Dunlap (US), T Immelman (Rsa), G Muller (Rsa), Padraig Dooley, S Drummond.

71 (1 under) - B Lincoln (Rsa), J-F Remesy (Fra), A Hansen (Den), S Hurd, (x) A Kruger (Rsa), P Golding, Gary Murphy, S Dodd, B Dredge, B Davis, M Lamb (Zim), D Terblanche (Rsa), S Daniels (Rsa), L Atkinson, S van Vuuren (Rsa).

72 (Par) - R Reid (Rsa), J Van Zyl (Rsa), R Jacquelin (Fra), H Otto (Rsa), N Dougherty, Paul Lawrie, M Brier (Aut), M Siem (Ger), N Henning (Rsa), S Webster, I Poulter, J Rose, N Le Grange (Rsa), B Liddle (Rsa).

73 (1 over) - T Auret (Rsa), M Roe, M Pilkington, D Gammon (Rsa), P Eales, M Kirk (Rsa), (x) G Veenstra (Rsa), D Park, A Butterfield, T Johnstone (Zim), A Forysth, L Ossthuizen (Rsa), N Colsaerts (Bel), D Robertson, G Birch Jnr, D Van Staden (Rsa), C Cevaer (Fra), M Cort, (x) E Bond (Rsa), H Buhrmann (Rsa), J Bele (Rsa).

74 (2 over) - B Hlophe (Rsa), M Green (Rsa), K Horne (Rsa), M Gortana (Rsa), M McNulty (Zim), R Wessels (Rsa), A McLean, B Vaughan (US), N Vanhootegem (Bel), Ti Moore (Rsa), M Farry (Fra), W Abery (Rsa), S Ludgater (Rsa), R Sterne (Rsa).

75 (3 over) - S Dyson, D Lynn, J Lomas, (x) P Karmis (Rsa), L Westwood, R Bland, C Howes (Rsa), Tim Rice, D Carter, L Ndwandwe (Rsa), M Mouland, C Schwartzel (Rsa), J Donaldson, U van den Berg (Rsa), D McGuigan, Graeme McDowell, D Fichardt (Rsa), P Baker, L James, J Rystrom (Swe), S Grewal, K Ferrie, M Hopf (Rsa), C Hile (Rsa), C Swart (Rsa), I Hutchings (Rsa).

76 (4 over) - M Lundberg (Swe), C Williams, M Mackenzie, H Alberts (Rsa), A Michell, M Cayeux (Zim), A Cruse (Rsa), S Wakefield, S Gallacher.

77 (5 over) - M Murless (Rsa), W Westner (Rsa), O Sandys (Rsa), T Simon (Rsa), M Foster, V Groenewald (Rsa), M Maritz (Rsa), B Barham, (x) F Mulholland (Can), Gavin McNeill, A Roestoff (Rsa), K Storgaard (Den).

78 (6 over) - C Whitelaw (Rsa), (x) R Loubser (Rsa), G Emerson, N Lawrence (Rsa), A Wall, M Blackey, M Bothma (Rsa), P Casey, G Woodman, J Van Hauwe (Fra), (x) M Cox (Rsa).

79 (7 over) - J Are Larsen (Nor), J Olver (Rsa), S Farrell (Zim), J Hobday (Rsa), A McLardy (Rsa), B Davison (Rsa), T Fisher (Rsa).

80 (8 over) - W Coetsee (Rsa), P Archer.

81 (9 over) - A Oldcorn, F Widmark (Swe), M Kellner (Ger), S Norris (Rsa).

83 (11 over) - G Levenson (Rsa)

87 (15 over) - Ciarán McMonagle.