Lee Westwood celebrated his election yesterday as the European Tour golfer of the year with his best score here to close level with Jose-Maria Olazabal on 65, seven under par, at the head the field after the first round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
Out in 33, three under the card, Westwood came home in searing heat in 32 with five birdies, and a bogey at the 11th, but it was symptomatic of the outstanding year he has had that he was more prone to dwell on the bad holes than the good ones afterwards.
"It was a tricky day," he said, "a difficult one for caddies." Pressed on his hangdog demeanour, he added "I'm sorry if I don't look delighted, but I am. 65 is the lowest score I've ever shot around here. Maybe it's because there's no air-conditioning on the golf course."
Westwood began the tournament as second favourite and underlined his class by starting birdie, eagle. But the course bit back on the par-five ninth hole where he hit his second shot into the water, got a flyer from the drop zone and needed to putt from the fringe with a five wood. Under the circumstances he felt that six was a good score.
The tournament that used to be known as the Million Dollar Challenge is now worth double that to the winner, with last place in the 12-man field receiving a comparatively paltry $150,000.
Defending champion Ernie Els birdied the final two holes to finish one behind Westwood and Olazabal, two ahead of Darren Clarke who carded a 68, and a further shot better than Colin Montgomerie's 69.
Olazabal's round was bogey-free and included seven birdies. The two-time US Master's champion birdied all of the par-fives, as did Els, but the hottest start came from Clarke who birdied the first three holes despite battling with a swing that was going too far from right to left for his liking.
Clarke said "I wasn't happy with my swing on the practice tee, but that's not always a bad omen. Sometimes I can flush it in practice and go out and shoot 80. I'm happy with a 68, but I think I'll need a better swing for the next few days when they stick the pins away in the corners."
Montgomery and Nick Price matched each other with bogey-free rounds. For Price, champion here three times since 1993, 69 is the kind of score he shoots when playing badly at the Gary Player Country Club course.
For Montgomery, the champion in 1996, 69 is an excellent base camp for a man who arrived in Sun City on Wednesday lunchtime, played 18 pro-am holes and was still suffering from jetlag and lack of sleep on the first tee yesterday.
It was a considerably better return than that of Miguel-Angel Jimenez, who arrived with Olazabal on Sunday, played three practice rounds and battled his way to a three-over-par 75, 10 shots off the pace set by Westwood and Olazabal.
