GOLF:HOME FAVOURITE Retief Goosen and Germany's Alex Cejka share the lead after the first round of a rain-affected South African Open after scores of eight-under-par 64 in Durban.

The pair were a shot clear of world number 12 Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel after their 65s, while Englishman David Dixon was in a group of six players a further shot back on six under.

Amongst them was Spaniard Carlos Del Moral with the rest – Richard Sterne, Jaco Ahlers, Garth Mulroy and Tyrone van Aswegen – all South African.

Ten others, including British Open champion Oosthuizen, David Drysdale from Scotland and England’s Richard McEvoy, were on five under following a low-scoring day at the Durban Country Club, which was effectively day one after organisers abandoned play yesterday less than two and a half hours after the start because the constant rain made conditions unplayable.

Round two, weather permitting, is now scheduled for today and organisers plan a cut to 50 as they bid to squeeze in 36 holes tomorrow.

Goosen was the first to take advantage of benign conditions at the coastal course.

The two-time former champion came into the day having already completed four holes on Thursday and he made his intentions clear with a birdie on the first hole of the day, the 527-yard par-five 14th.

But despite his success, there were a couple of blemishes with two bogeys coming in alongside a pair of eagles and six birdies.

The 41-year-old dropped a shot on 17 but more than made up for the lapse with an eagle on the par-four 18th. His tee shot found the front edge of the green before the two-time SA Open champion nailed the long putt

Speaking afterwards, he said: “Obviously, that’s the way you want to start. It went nicely for me yesterday, those four holes in the rain when I managed to get two birdies and then on the first this morning I got another one to keep the momentum going.

“I’m off to a good start so hopefully I can try and start building on this tomorrow afternoon. Then we’ll see what happens on Sunday if we play 36 or 18.”

Goosen, ranked 17 in the world, said his iron play had underpinned his round.

“My driving could have been better and I missed a few fairways out there, but I hit a lot of iron shots close, which made putting a little bit easier,” he said.

Cejka, a four-time winner on the European Tour, went through his round faultless with his eight birdies split across both nines.

“It was a good day,” he said. “The practice rounds were not so good for me, but today was excellent. There’s still three rounds to go, which is a long, long way. Hopefully I can play well in the next three days.”

The 40-year-old said his decision to play conservatively on the narrow course had paid dividends. “I just played smart with a lot of three irons and three woods off the tees because it is a tricky course.”

Four-time winner Els, who is the highest ranked player in the field, has had an up and down year – his last Tour victory coming back in March – but is aiming to now build on his effort today.

“I missed quite a few putts on the front nine and was getting a little annoyed with myself, but I played a really solid back nine,” added Els, who came home in 31.

“You know I just hit the ball really nicely and that’s something I can take out of today.

“I really feel like I’m solid from tee to green and you need to be on this course. Hopefully that back nine will give me a lot of confidence for the weekend.”

Damien McGrane fired a one-under-par 71 while Michael Hoey has a lot of work to do following an opening 75.