Bradley Neil faces an uphill battle to make the half-way cut in the Joburg Open.
On a day of low scoring at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, the Perthshire golfer posted a one over par 72 to sit in a tie for 154th place.
There was better news for fellow Scot, Scott Henry, who is in the top 10 at six under.
South Africa’s Nic Henning claimed a narrow lead after the opening round as home players dominated the leaderboard.
Henning carding a nine-under-par 62 on the West Course to finish one shot ahead of compatriots Titch Moore and Tjaart van der Walt, as well as Belgium’s Thomas Pieters.
Dean Burmester and Garth Mulroy were a shot further back on seven under to make it five South Africans in the top seven, with Henry and English pair Sam Hutsby and Simon Dyson part of an eight-strong group on six under.
Henning has the worst world ranking possible, joint 1,555th, and admitted: “I haven’t made a score like that for many many years so it’s a really nice surprise.”
The 45-year-old raced to the turn in 29, with five birdies and an eagle and also birdied the 15th and 16th, but added: “Let me tell the truth; I hit my second at the first thin but it was straight at the hole, I holed a nice putt on the second and was lucky with a seven iron on the third, it went straight in the hole.”
The 210-strong field is split between the East and West Courses for the first two rounds, with the final 36 holes played on the tougher East Course (which Neil plays today).
Henry admitted his 65 was a “little unexpected” in his first European Tour event of the season but was relishing the East Course challenge.
“The East Course is a little tougher but I always seem to play better on the East than the West,” Henry said.
“It’s my third year in a row here and I don’t think I have bettered one or two under on the West.
“It definitely is easier but for some reason I have never found it that way.”
In total 113 players broke par but European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke had to birdie the last two holes for a level-par 72 on the East Course after a front nine of 39, which featured four birdies, two double bogeys, two bogeys and just one par.
Clarke has not recorded a top-10 finish on the European Tour since winning the Open Championship in 2011.
Leading scores (Gbr & Irl unless stated:
West Course
62 Nic Henning (Rsa)
63 Tjaart Van Der Walt (Rsa), Titch Moore (Rsa), Thomas Pieters (Bel)
64 Jason Scrivener (Aus), Dean Burmester (Rsa), Garth Mulroy (Rsa)
Other scores included:
70 David Drysdale
72 Bradley Neil.
East Course
66 Sam Hutsby, Wallie Coetsee (Rsa)
67 Ben Evans, Jacques Blaauw (Rsa), Thomas Aiken (Rsa)
68 Anthony Michael (Rsa), PH McIntyre (Rsa), Jordi Garcia Pinto (Spa), Keith Horne (Rsa), Joakim Lagergren (Swe)
69 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Gareth Maybin, Matthew Nixon, Andrew McArthur, Ryan Evans, Eduardo De La Riva (Spa), Tyrrell Hatton, Nacho Elvira (Spa), Pedro Oriol (Spa), Richard Sterne (Rsa)
Other scores included
72 Doug McGuigan, Craig Lee, Darren Clarke
73 Christopher Doak.