Paarl, 18 December 2008: Rory Sabbatini (66) and Ross McGowan (66) shared the early lead at six-under par after solid first rounds at the South African Open at Pearl Valley.

Sabbatini moved to the United States in 1994 and has returned to South Africa this year to play his third consecutive tournament on native soil following the Alfred Dunhill Cup at Leopard Creek and the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City.

He was finally able to sink some putts after two weeks of playing well but not being able to get the ball in the hole, and an unblemished scorecard included six birdies.

McGowan who hails from England fired a perfect six-under which included four birdies and an eagle on the 485-meter par 5.

Most of the spectators followed local hero Ernie Els, and weren’t disappointed with his five-under par 67 which included four birdies and an eagle on the fifth. His start was somewhat spoilt by a bogey on the 12th.

Early completed scores:
65 - Oskar Henningsson (SWE)

66 - Ross McGowan (ENG), Rory Sabbatini (RSA), Keith Horne (RSA)

67 - Simon Dyson (ENG), Ernie Els (RSA), Tim Clark (RSA), Michael Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)

68 - James Kamte (RSA), Albert Pistorius (RSA), Hennie Otto (RSA)

69 - Branden Grace (RSA), Carlos Del Moral (ESP), Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP), Justin Rose (ENG), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)

70 - Mathias Gronberg (SWE), Garth Mulroy (RSA), Henrik Stenson (SWE), Adilson da Silva (BRA), Rory McIlroy (NIR)