Malcolm Mitchell led the South African challenge on Thursday with a first round of six-under-par 64 on the opening day of the Sunshine Tour and DP World Tour co-sanctioned Joburg Open at Houghton Golf Club.

On a course made soft by heavy rains over the past few days and weeks, Mitchell didn’t drop a single shot as he shared third place with four other players, one stroke off the lead. Up front, England’s Jordan Smith and Wenyi Ding of China shared the lead after rounds of seven-under-par 63 each.

Mitchell started his round on the 10^th with a birdie, and he picked up another stroke on the par-three 16^th. He got the heavy lifting for his great score done with four birdies in the last five holes. He picked up a shot on the fifth, and then made three in a row on his way home on the seventh, eighth and ninth.

He shared third with, amongst others, Jayden Schaper. Schaper also started his round on the 10^th, and he made an eagle on his first hole of the day. He made just one more birdie on that first nine, and then birdied the first after he had turned. However, he dropped a shot – his only bogey of the day – on the second – and then picked up three more birdies on his way in.

Schaper gave himself yet another good chance at a maiden DP World Tour title. “It was a nice solid start, especially with the eagle on the first hole,” he said. “The golf course was playing quite soft in perfect conditions. It’s a straight forward golf course, and I’ve played it a few times.”

Ding and Smith took advantage of an early start and a receptive golf course as they opened with bogey-free rounds of seven-under-par 63 on the par-70 Houghton Golf Club course to share the lead.

Ding has impressed in his rookie season after earning a DP World Tour card as the inaugural winner of the Global Amateur Pathway ranking last year, announcing himself on the big stage with a joint-fifth finish at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open just before Christmas.

Ding said, “I played pretty well today. Some short irons gave me a lot of birdie chances and I made a lot of putts.”

When asked if having a South African caddie with plenty of local knowledge helped him, Ding added: “He was great. It’s his birthday today and I promised I’d give him a trophy this week!”