GOLF: Local hero Retief Goosen made the best use of a new driving iron to take a share of the lead after the first round of the Sun City Challenge at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, South Africa, yesterday.

Goosen carded a four-under-par 68, the same score as American Chris DiMarco, with US player Jim Furyk one shot off the pace and pre-tournament favourites Ernie Els of South Africa and defending champion Sergio Garcia of Spain two shots adrift.

Australian Robert Allenby also recorded a 70 to join Els and Garcia in joint fourth.

Darren Clark's level-par 72 was achieved in an unconventional manner, and he was left to rue falling from three-under with three holes to play.

The Dungannon man's round was like a rollercoaster, with birdies on the second, ninth, 10th, 14th and 15th being negated by dropped shots on the sixth, seventh, and final hole, and a double bogey on the 16th.

Padraig Harrington finished the day alongside his Ryder Cup team-mate on level-par.

But South African Goosen was far from satisfied with his game, even though he had employed a new Mizuno driving iron which meant he used woods and drivers off only five of the 18 tees.

Goosen, the European Order of Merit winner two seasons in a row, was solid but unspectacular.

His special moment of the round came in front of the capacity home crowd on the 18th hole, when he hit an excellent wedge out of the bunker to save par.

"I had a lot of chances coming in on the last few holes, so I suppose it could be better, but I'm working on a few things at the moment and I'm not striking the ball as I should," he said.

"I spent a lot of time on the driving range yesterday. I'm a bit uncomfortable at the moment, my line-up is a bit out."

Els and Garcia dropped a shot each on the 18th, while another contender, Zimbabwean Nick Price, made a double bogey on the final hole to finish with a 71.

Garcia put in a late charge with birdies on the 14th and 16th to close the lead down to one, but he then left a monster putt short and missed the follow-up from five feet to drop back to two-under for the round.

Price lifted his shot into the green onto the lip of a bunker, but he got into real trouble when his next shot did not move the ball, and his second attempt moved the ball into the bunker where it plugged.

The Zimbabwean managed to regain his composure but finished with a two-over-par six for the hole.

Colin Montgomerie's nightmare on the first hole stole much of the attention away from the leaders.

The Scot carded the worst score of the 12 competitors with a round of 74 after scoring a quadruple-bogey eight at the opening hole.

He thought he had escaped with a seven after going into the trees, but a scorer noticed that he had been responsible for moving the ball before hitting out of trouble and a one-shot penalty was applied.

Birdies on the 16th and 18th gave his score a better look, but it was a day he would rather forget and later he refused to attend a press conference to discuss his tribulations.

However, chief rules official Dennis Bruyns explained the mix-up afterwards, pointing to a scorer who had seen the ball move as Montgomerie was about to play his second shot on the first hole.

"The ball was rested against a leaf or a twig and Montgomerie was unsighted once he addressed the ball so he didn't see the ball in the bush and he took his backswing and hit and made some sort of contact with the ball," he said.

"Rule 18 basically states that if you have begun your swing, if the ball moves and you continue to hit the ball you do not get penalised for hitting a moving ball unless you have done something to cause the ball to move.

"However, we believe that he did cause the ball to move because of his backswing through the leaves and the bush," Bruyns added.

New Zealander Michael Campbell produced a spectacular comeback after recording a seven on the par-four third hole to keep himself in contention.

Thanks to birdies on the seventh, 10th, 14th and 16th, Campbell came home in one-under 71.

Leading scores

68 - R Goosen (Rsa), C DiMarco (USA). 69 - J Furyk (USA).

70 - E Els (Rsa), R Allenby (Aus), S Garcia (Spa).

71 - M Campbell (Nzl), NPrice (Zim).

72 - D Clarke, P Harrington.

73 - B Estes (USA).

74 - C Montgomerie (Sco).