Lee Westwood recovered from a shaky spell yesterday midway through his opening round at the Nedbank Challenge in Sun City to claim a share of the lead.

The Worksop golfer was one under playing the par-five ninth when his drive landed in a bush and he was forced to take a penalty drop because of the unplayable lie which resulted in a bogey six.

Having also dropped a shot at the eighth, Westwood turned at level par but bounced back immediately with birdies at the 10th and 11th.

Another dropped shot at the par-five 14th threatened to throw the Ryder Cup star off course again but a 10-foot putt at the last ensured he picked up another birdie to finish two under par with a round of 70.

That put him in a tie with home favourites Ernie Els and Retief Goosen and Australian Stuart Appleby who are all chasing the $1.2million first prize.

Defending champion Sergio Garcia slipped to a three-over-par 75.

HONG KONG OPEN: Australia's Adam Groom fired a 64 to take a one-shot lead over European Ryder Cup trio Pádraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez and David Howell in the first round of the Hong Kong Open. Harrington, Spaniard Jimenez, Briton Howell and South African Charl Schwartzel shot five-under-par 65s at the Hong Kong Golf Club.

World number six Harrington produced an error-free round to begin his title defence in style at the jointly-sanctioned European and Asian Tour event.

"I'm very pleased with this start but there is a lot of work remaining to be done. It's great to begin this way and nice to get the adrenalin going," said Harrington.

AUSTRALIAN PGA: American Bob Estes shot a record- equalling nine-under-par 63 to lead after the first round of the Australian PGA championship yesterday.

Estes (38) sank nine birdies in a flawless opening round at Coolum on the Queensland Sunshine Coast to finish a single shot clear of the field.

Craig Spence, the 1999 Australian Masters champion, returned to form with a 64, including an eagle at the par-five fourth hole, to hold outright second.

A group of seven players, including American Corey Pavin, the 1995 US Open champion, were tied for third place at five-under-par 67.

Australia's former world number one Greg Norman was among a smaller group a further shot back at four under par, and tournament favourite Adam Scott was seven shots off the lead after shooting 70.

"It was little bit of vintage Greg then a little bit of rust on Greg on the back nine," Norman said.

"I got off to a good start, my focus was good, but I drifted in out a little and that was reflected in some of the shots I hit."

USPGA SCHOOL: Scott Gump, a member of the PGA Nationwide Tour for the last five years, shot a six-under-par 66 on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West in the opening round of the USPGA Tour School qualifying.

Gump leads by one from a group of four including Phillip Price of Wales, a 14-year European Tour member who played in the 2002 Ryder Cup.

Ireland's Richie Coughlan had an eventful opening one over par 73 on the Nicklaus course, that included six birdies, seven bogeys and just five pars while Keith Nolan, playing the TPC Stadium course, dropped thee shot over the final three holes on his way to a 76.

The field will play six rounds this week - three on the Nicklaus Tournament Course and three on the TPC Stadium Course - in pursuit of 30 exemptions to the 2005 PGA Tour.

The next 50 golfers will earn exemptions to the 2005 Nationwide Tour, while the remaining golfers will have conditional exemptions for the Nationwide circuit.

RYDER CUP: The US Ryder Cup qualifying system has been revamped for the 2006 match with Europe at the K Club after heavy criticism following the American team's thrashing by Europe in this year's event.

Previously, the points were more evenly distributed over the two seasons between Ryder Cups leading to complaints that the US team were forced to rely on players who had shown their best form a year before the event itself.

"The PGA of America's goal is to ensure the strongest possible team for the next edition of the Ryder Cup matches at the K Club in Ireland," said PGA of America president Roger Warren.

In 2006, regular PGA Tour tournament wins will be worth 375 points instead of 75 in 2005 and major event victories - the US Open, Masters and PGA Championship plus the British Open - will reap 675 rather than 450.

Top 10 finishes will also be stacked in favour of 2006 performances.

Ten players will be selected directly from the points system and US captain Tom Lehman will select two wildcard members as in previous years.