GOLF/ DUNHILL CHAMPIONSHIP: Paul McGinley carried on where he left off last year in the first round of the Dunhill Championship in Johannesburg.
McGinley fired a six-under-par 66 at Houghton Golf Club to claim a share of the lead with Welshman Stephen Dodd, one ahead of a six-strong chasing pack, with 17 players within two shots of the lead.
Wales' Jamie Donaldson and English duo Greg Owen and Mark Roe were among those on five under, with local favourites Ernie Els and Retief Goosen another shot back.
McGinley enjoyed the most successful season of his career in 2001, qualifying for the European Ryder Cup team, breaking into the top 50 in the world and winning his third career title in the Wales Open in August.
And he was quickly back into the groove despite a long winter break when he played just three times since the start of December, claiming he had turned into a "full-time football supporter" of his two favourite clubs, West Ham and Celtic, instead.
To make matters supposedly worse, McGinley's clubs arrived 24 hours late on Wednesday morning, giving the Dubliner time for just one practice round, although all that did not seem to make any difference.
Starting on the 10th, McGinley birdied the 12th, 16th and 18th to reach the turn in 33, and another birdie on the fifth took him to four under par.
Further birdies followed on the eighth and ninth and McGinley admitted: "I'm surprised but pleased. I scored well but did not play particularly well and that's what surprised me, the way I was able to get it round.
"I got a few good breaks, I always seemed to have a shot out of the rough, and overall I'm very pleased.
"I needed a break. Last year took a lot out of me. I was really tired, not physically but mentally. I needed to get away from the game and that's what I did. I've always worked hard in the winter whereas this year I didn't, apart from the gym."
McGinley was not scheduled to be playing this week but accepted a late invitation after failing to receive such hospitality across the Atlantic.
"I am disappointed about not getting the invites but I don't want to make an issue with the American tour," he added. "I'm 32nd on the world ranking and a current Ryder Cup player, and if I was a sponsor I would want the highest ranking players in my tournament.
"To get refused an invite to the San Diego Open at Torrey Pines was particularly disappointing because I went to university in San Diego and that was one of our home courses.
"Now that the game is becoming such a world game, is it time now that we have a top 40 or 50 in the world who play more or less where they want to, be it in America, Europe or Australia."
Roy Wegerle, the former Chelsea, QPR and Blackburn striker, had a disappointing round of 76.
Jay Haas and Brandel Chamblee both fired nine-under-par 63s on Wednesday to share the first-round lead at the Bob Hope Classic being played on four different courses in the Californian desert.
Phil Mickelson and Jerry Kelly, who won last week in Hawaii, were among a group of six one shot off the pace. JP Hayes, without a win since 1998, equalled the tour record by making eight straight birdies on his way to a 65 at the Tamarisk CC.
