South African Open:Robert Rock overcame gusty conditions at the Pearl Valley Golf Estates yesterday to lead the South African Airways Open after a solid opening round in Paarl.

Heavy winds made playing conditions extremely difficult, with only four players finishing under par.

And it was Rock who led the way, shooting a two-under-par 70 to lead by one shot from a trio of South Africans, Ulrich van den Berg, Alex Haindl and Charl Schwartzel.

Darren Clarke was the only high-profile name in the top 10, carding a level-par round to stay in contention.

The other big names all struggled, with last year's winner Ernie Els on five-over par and reigning US Open champion Angel Cabrera on eight over suffering the worst.

Another home favourite, Retief Goosen, also had a tough round, but remains in contention at two-over par, while Australian Greg Norman is a further shot back after two bogeys and a double bogey in his final six holes.

The day was a complete disaster for Rory McIlroy, who crashed to an 11-over-par 83.

The 18-year-old didn't have a par on the front nine, and a lone birdie four at the third was offset by seven bogeys and a double at the ninth to turn in 44 shots, eight over par.

He started back with birdies at the 10th and 11th, but bogeys at 12th, 14th and 16th, and a closing double at the long 18th, left the teenager tied for 127th and in need of a small miracle to make the cut today.

Clarke matched four birdies with four bogeys to continue his recent run of solid if not spectacular golf.

Peter Lawrie had one birdie in his two-over 74, while Colm Moriarty, like McIlroy, struggled badly with nine bogeys and a double in his nine-over 81.

But it was world number 449 Rock who stood tall at the co-sanctioned European and Sunshine Tour event, shooting five birdies and two bogeys to edge ahead of the field.

And he admitted the wind failed to intimidate him in any way.

"Starting off, even at 7am, it was blowing pretty hard. I had 29 putts and 10 fairways, so overall I was striking the ball well and holing crucial putts to save par and make birdies.

"I didn't really make any lengthy putts. I made two putts over 10-feet and I drove well but had a lot of chances early that I just wasted.

"All my bogeys were not the fault of the wind, they were my own mistakes. I hit good shots and gave myself chances, but I also messed up quite a fair bit. Here if you hit a bad shot, you get punished."

Earlier this morning, the tournament lost one of its other big draws when two-time winner Trevor Immelman withdrew through injury.

The 27-year-old played two holes before complaining of a rib problem that caused trouble with his breathing.

It was later revealed that he had a lesion on the 11th right rib, which will be removed next week, ruling him out for up to six weeks.