Jbe Kruger and Andy Sullivan both shot a six-under 66 to share the first-round lead at the South African Open on Thursday.
Ernie Els was a shot behind as he searches for his first win in 19 months.
Els opened the year with a 67 in his hometown of Johannesburg, picking up three birdies in his first nine after starting on No. 10 and making his only bogey on 12.
Els’ South African compatriot Kruger was bogey-free around Glendower Golf Club, while England’s Sullivan recovered from a double-bogey to ultimately card six birdies and an eagle.
Els was without a top-three finish on the European Tour last year for the first time since 1992, but his crisp iron-play on a course he knows well put him in early contention for a sixth South African Open title.
An approach to within two feet on nine, his last, set up a tap-in for Els’ final birdie and a promising start to the new year for the four-time major champion, who last claimed a title at the BMW International Open in June 2013.
“That was nice,” Els said. “I was a little nervous here and there, but it was so nice to play Glendower in front of my home crowd.”
Els said he found putting a little “nerve-wracking” after reverting to a regular putter ahead of the banning of anchored strokes next year.
The 45-year-old is now the tournament host at the South African Open and is seeking the victory that will put him behind just Gary Player, Bobby Locke and Sid Brews as the most successful player at the second-oldest tournament in professional golf.
He shares third with Lasse Jensen and Richard Sterne, with four other players tied for sixth after a weather delay led to a late finish for part of the field.
One of those in the tie for sixth was former US Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, who also started well with a four-under 68 in his quest for a first South African Open title.
Defending champion Morten Orum Madsen of Denmark was one-over after a 73 that included three bogeys and a double-bogey.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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