Durban, South Africa: England’s Daniel Brooks hit a polished eight under par 62 to surge into the lead after a delayed first day of The Nelson Mandela Championship on Wednesday.
Play had begun seven hours later than planned after heavy rain left the Mount Edgecombe course saturated.
Brooks, who retained his European Tour card at Qualifying School last month after a disappointing rookie campaign in 2013, hit four birdies in five holes to surge to the top of the leaderboard.
A trio of French players are in pursuit, with Francois Calmels second on seven under and Romain Wattel and Edouard Dubois tied a shot further back.
Challenge Tour graduate Calmels, who won an event in Mauritius last week, admitted: “It was a great week for me. I made a great last round 65 to win by one over Hennie (Otto), and that give me quite a bit of self-confidence.
“I know I’m playing well, and the great round today was just perfect.”
More than half the field were unable to complete their opening round, with play set to resume at 06:00 local time (04:00GMT) on Thursday.
