James Kingston was the leading South African with a two-under-par 69 on Thursday after the first round of the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores Resort in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
His five birdies and three bogeys put him in a share of 19th, five strokes off the lead.
Up front, Richard Green of Australia and England’s Richard Bland shared the lead after each posted a seven-under-par 64. They led by two from Canadian Mike Weir, Steve Stricker, Jeff Schmid and Scott Dunlap of the United States, and KJ Choi of Korea who were all on five-under.
Making his first start on PGA Tour Champions, the 51-year-old Englishman Bland made five birdies and an eagle on the par-five 15th.
Keith Horne joined Kingston in a share of 19th on two-under, making an eagle, four birdies and four bogeys.
Retief Goosen was on one-under in a share of 38th together with Ernie Els.
Adilson Da Silva battled to a two-over 73 and a share of 85th, while David Frost was on six-over in a share of 136th.
