EAST LONDON (7 January 2010) – The feared wind did not arrive, and predictably the players lined up to take advantage in Thursday’s first round of the Africa Open at East London Golf Club.

Richard Sterne was the first to top the leaderboard with a bogey-free round of seven-under-par 66 on the par-73 layout. He was followed later in the day by countrymen Titch Moore and Trevor Fisher Jnr., as well as Swede Patrik Sjoland and Denmark’s Mark Haastrup. They all share a one-stroke lead over Charl Schwartzel, Thomas Aiken, Tjaart van der Walt and Keith Horne.

Darren Clarke opened with a four under 69. But despite the favourable conditions, some of the tournament’s other marquee players struggled to make an impact. England’s Ryder Cup hopeful Nick Dougherty stumbled to a three-over-par 76, and New Zealand sensation Danny Lee signed for a 77. Even local hope James Kamte could do no better than a 77.

But with over half of the field managing to break par in the first round, it was a forgiving day on this venerable layout. “The conditions were nice out there – hardly any wind and plenty of birdie opportunities,” said Moore.

Sterne was the only one of the leaders to play in the morning, and he went about his round with the confidence of a man who found the kind of form on the greens to match his impressive ball striking. That’s the key. I normally hit the ball pretty well but don’t make the putts. Today I rolled in eight or nine 20-footers and that helped,” he said after a round of seven birdies.

The fact that he was able to do most of his scoring playing the back nine first was also a source of confidence for Sterne. “I made some good putts in the beginning of the round, especially for pars on holes 13 and 14. That kept my round going. Then I made a few more coming in on the back nine, which in my opinion is tougher than the front.” Sterne certainly knows his way around this layout, shooting a third round of 61 here in the third round of the 2009 tournament. “I had it going again today and was seven under with five holes to go. But those aren’t my favourite holes so I just played them conservatively. But I was happy that I was never in trouble out there.”

First round scores:

(All competitors RSA unless otherwise stated)

66 - Richard Sterne, Trevor Fisher Jnr, Patrik Sjoland (SWE), Titch Moore, Mark F Haastrup (DEN)

67 - Tjaart van der Walt, Keith Horne, Charl Schwartzel, Thomas Aiken

68 - Jake Roos, George Coetzee, Deane Pappas, Charl Coetzee, Jose-Filipe Lima (POR), Sam Hutsby (ENG), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (FRA), Michael Lorenzo-Vera (FRA), Justin Walters (ENG), James Morrison (ENG), Miles Tunnicliff (ENG), Andre Cruse, James Kingston, Michael Hoey (NIR), Robert Coles (ENG), Dion Fourie

69 - Kenneth Ferrie (ENG), Jarmo Sandelin (SWE), Michiel Bothma, Carl Suneson (ESP), Oliver Bekker, Bradford Vaughan, Hennie Otto, Jbe' Kruger, Neil Schietekat, Marco Ruiz (PAR), Martin Maritz, Thabang Simon, Pelle Edberg (SWE), Darren Clarke (NIR), Jaco Van Zyl, Louis de Jager, Paulo Pinto (ARG), Joost Luiten (NED), Garry Houston (WAL), Jacques Blaauw

70 - Alejandro Canizares (ESP), Steve Basson, Alexandre Kaleka (FRA), Raphael Jacquelin (FRA), Darren Fichardt, Phillip Archer (ENG), Stephen Gallacher (SCO), Mark Murless, Oliver Fisher (ENG), Desvonde Botes, Klas Eriksson (SWE), Reggie Adams, Clodomiro Carranza (ARG), Andrew Marshall (ENG), Peter Baker (ENG), Sion E Bebb (WAL), Gary Boyd (ENG), Tyrone Mordt, Branden Grace, Ryan Tipping, Christiaan Basson, Clinton Whitelaw

71 - Mervyn Galant, Steven O'Hara (SCO), Jean Hugo, Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Marc Cayeux (ZIM), Tyrone Ferreira, Chris Swanepoel, Benjamin Hebert (FRA), Grant Muller, Jamie McLeary (SCO), Andrew McArthur (SCO), Adilson da Silva (BRA), Alan McLean (SCO), Prinavin Nelson, Julien Quesne (FRA), Alex Haindl, Benn Barham (ENG), Stuart Anderson (CAN), Julien Guerrier (FRA), Magnus A Carlsson (SWE), Anthony Michael, Andrew Georgiou, Willie van der Merwe

72 - Fredrik Ohlsson (SWE), Matthew Zions (AUS), Chris Williams, Jean-Francois Lucquin (FRA), Warren Abery, David Lynn (ENG), Steven Jeppesen (SWE), TC Charamba (ZIM), Christian Ries, Callum Macaulay (SCO), Ryan Cairns (ZIM), Jaco Ahlers, Daniel Greene, PH McIntyre, Jamie Elson (ENG), Phillip Price (WAL), Tyrone van Aswegen, Brandon Pieters, Peter Whiteford(SCO), Ulrich van den Berg, Scott Hend (AUS), Louis Moolman

73 - Carlos Del Moral (ESP), Roope Kakko (FIN), Shaun Norris, Gary Clark (ENG), Francois Calmels (FRA), Joakim Haeggman(SWE), Mark Fensham, Rick Kulacz (AUS), Niall Kearney (IRL), Andrew Tampion (AUS), Scott Dunlap (USA), Heinrich Bruiners, Martin Wiegele (AUT), Dawie Van der Walt, Andrew Curlewis

74 - Stuart Manley (WAL), Toto Thimba (Jnr), Doug McGuigan, John Parry (ENG), Fredrik Andersson Hed (SWE), Lorenzo Gagli (ITA), Simon Khan (ENG), James Ruth (ENG), Simon Thornton (IRL)

75 - Henrik Nystrom (SWE), Gary Murphy (IRL), Robert Dinwiddie (ENG), Wayne Westner, Mark Brown (NZL)

76 - Nick Dougherty (ENG), Richard McEvoy (ENG), Des Terblanche, Marcel Siem (GER), Brett Liddle, Johan du Buisson, Keenan Davidse

77 - Danny Lee (NZL), James Kamte, Lindani Ndwandwe

79 - Callie Burger, Anton Haig

80 - Lee Slattery (ENG), Merrick Bremner

DQ - Eirik Tage Johansen (NOR)