Four consecutive birdies at the end of his round enabled England's Simon Dyson to take a share of the lead before play was suspended at the Tshwane Open. The European PGA event is being played at Copperleaf Golf & Country Estate in Centurion, South Africa.
Copperleaf is the longest course on the European Tour, but Dyson put in a bogey-free round of 65 to join Trevor Fisher Jr. at 7 under atop of the leaderboard before adverse weather brought a halt to play on Thursday.
MORE: Track Tiger, Rory, other stars at Honda Classic | Images | LPGA in Australia
Fisher's round was ended after 16 holes. The home favorite will complete his opening round on Friday.
Dyson birdied the second and fifth holes, then finished with a flourish. His run included a delightful pitch to within a foot of the hole at 16, before he holed from 15 and 25 feet, respectively, at 17 and 18.
"It's a lovely start," Dyson told the European Tour's official website. "It's my lowest round in a good few years, especially on the first day. It just puts you in a nice frame of mind, a good stead, and sets it up nicely to have a good weekend."
England's Ross Fisher was among five players tied for third at 6 under par.
Fisher began his round on the back nine, posting a bogey-free 32 in the first half of his round before then recording four straight birdies from the fifth, and he is relishing playing in South Africa.
"I got into a nice steady run with four birdies in a row on the front nine, which was my back nine," he said. "My game feels in good shape coming off the back of a good result in South Africa a couple of weeks ago.
"I don't know what it is, I just enjoy playing down here and I seem to play quite well."
Chris Wood, Morten Orum Madsen and Kevin Phelan are among six players on 5 under par.
Reigning champion Dawie van der Walt made a poor start to his defense and sits 5 over par with two holes left to play.