Defending champion Ernie Els of South Africa took the first-round lead with a five-under-par 67 as the 21st Sun City Golf Challenge got underway on a wet and muddy Gary Player Country Club course yesterday. With the players in the invitation 12-man competition chasing a first prize of $2 million, the richest in golf, and soaking rain falling for most of the day, Els carded six birdies with nine-hole loops of 33 and 34.
His only mistake was to drag a three-iron into the water that fronts the island green at the par-five ninth hole.
That cost Els a bogey-six but the so-called "Big Easy" has made the right sort of start here to put him in line for an unprecedented hat- trick of titles following his record-breaking 25-under-par return on his way to victory in 1999, and his defeat of England's Lee Westwood in a play-off last year.
"I battled to get my rhythm going to begin with because of the rain," said Els, who in spite of this statement birdied the first two holes. Els cannot sit back with 54 holes to go, though.
Just behind him, one stroke off the pace, were fellow-South African Retief Goosen, Germany's Bernhard Langer, Zimbabwe's Nick Price, Scotland's Colin Montgomerie, Canada's Mike Weir and 21-year-old Spanish star Sergio Garcia all on four-under-par 68.
Price has won this tournament three times and Langer is a two-time champion. Goosen, the current US Open champion, and Weir are making their debuts in this lucrative, end of year event which is being staged for he 21st time.
A worrying dizzy spell robbed Garcia of a share of the lead. The players talk much about the "fear factor" at the Gary Player Country Club course. The tee-shots at the par-four third, eighth and 11th holes are particularly intimidating as the players' drives must be hit over long expanses of bushveld to what - visually at least - appear to be tiny targets of closely-mown grass in the far distance.
The treacherous 545-metre par-five ninth is another fearsome hole. Here, if the drive is long enough, the approach must be hit with a fairway wood or long iron over water to an island green.
Garcia was on the fairway, a two-iron in his hand, and looking at the green. Clearly, if he could hit the green in two shots here a birdie or even an eagle would be in the offing.
"That's when I had my dizzy spell," Garcia later admitted. Twice he addressed the ball and twice he backed off.
"I felt funny, and the ball appeared to be moving as I looked at it." The Spaniard then exchanged the two-iron for a short-iron and laid up short of the water. From there he wedged onto the green and two-putted for a safety-first par.
"It's crazy, because in the pro-am here I hit a two-iron from pretty much the same spot to a foot from the hole and made eagle," he pointed out. When pressed for more information on the dizzy spell, Garcia said he had had the same experience once or twice before.
Speculation was that this might have been a case of Garcia feeling the pressure and "choking" as a result, but he insisted that this was not the case.
"It was just the weather," he said. "One moment it was hot and muggy, then raining again. It kind of put me of my stroke." Lee Westwood, battling to regain form after a disappointing season, scored 69 with Padraig Harrington round in 70 in spite of a triple-bogey seven at the eighth hole.
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