Dunhill Championship: Alan McLean was the chief beneficiary of a wet and soggy Houghton course as the Scottish-born Cape Town resident carded seven birdies in a round of 65 that gave him a share of a three-way lead at the Dunhill Championship in Johannesburg yesterday.

McLean sits on top of the leaderboard with Dane Anders Hansen and Germany's Marcus Siem after the first day's play.

McLean, who plays under the Scottish flag but lives in South Africa, showed his knowledge of the local course to shake off the rainy conditions and card an error-free round in morning conditions which were far from perfect.

Peter Lawrie leads the Irish charge after a four-under par 68; Paul McGinley is a shot back on 69 with Damien McGrane on one-under par 71; Mark McNulty on level par 72 and Ciarán McMonagle on five-over par 77.

In a five-birdie round Lawrie went to the turn in two-under par 34 and came home also in 34, dropping his only shot of the round on the par-four 13th.

More than 10 centimetres of rain has fallen in the past two days, provoking fears that the greens might not hold up to the pressure of five days of competition which started with the pro-am.

The conditions were certainly better before lunch. Only another Dane, Mads Vibe-Hastrup, and Frenchman Gregory Havret made any impression in the afternoon session with a 67 and 66 respectively. McLean finally qualified last year for a European Tour card after his fifth attempt at qualifying school. But his determination at finally making it seems to have stood him in good stead and he was quick to make the most of playing on a course he first visited in 1995.

Opening with a birdie on the par-five third he followed it up with birdies on seven and eight as the rain continued to pour down.

On the 10th, McLean chipped in from 12 feet to pick up another shot and added a further birdie on 11th before closing with two consecutive birdies on the 17th and 18th to come home in 32.

"It was pleasing to birdie the last two, especially after scrambling for a par five on the 16th with my length from the tee," McLean said.

"I literally shanked one right out of the bunker and did well to two-putt for five. I have been hitting the ball well for the past couple of weeks and I just haven't had the putter going.

"But today I really made some putts, it was a good solid day."

With his driver working overtime, the big-hitting McLean scored well in the downpour as the greens ran slower and the ball stuck on the fairway.

"Technology is awesome but conditions really helped me a little bit today," he added.

German Tobias Dier enjoyed the shot of the day with a hole-in-one at the 159-yard par-three 12th.

Dier, who holed out with a nine iron, missed the prize money on offer for such a feat, however, as it was at the wrong par three.

However, sponsors Dunhill have decided to present him with a watch for his efforts.