Paarl, 18 December 2008: On a strangely windstill day at Pearl Valley Golf Estates, Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti found himself right at home in the sweltering heat as he posted an eight under par 64 for the first round lead in the South African Open on Thursday.

"It’s probably a little bit hotter in Paraguay at this time of the year, so this is perfect for me," Zanotti said of a day which he ended with a one-stroke lead over European Tour Qualifying School winner Oskar Henningsson.

Ireland’s Gareth Maybin was tied for the lead playing the difficult par-four ninth, but a double bogey there saw him finish on six under 66 and in a group of players including Rory Sabbatini and world number ten Lee Westwood.

Ernie Els and Tim Clark both posted rounds of five under par 67 to remain a threat after day one.

"There was a good breeze in the morning, but then it just died away. I’ve never seen that happen here," said Els, who stumbled slightly with a double bogey on the par-four sixth, where he hit his drive out of bounds. "That was one of my worst tee shots of the year. I was trying to get lower, but that one tee shot cost me."

Trevor Immelman had two eagles on his card for a three under par 69, while Retief Goosen opened with a 70.

And defending champion James Kingston felt he could’ve taken more advantage of the calm conditions than a level par 72.

But overall, with no wind to plague them, few players struggled to make their way around this Jack Nicklaus course in the winelands in the first round.

"That was pretty close to perfect," Zanotti said of his round, which featured only one bogey on the par-four 10th hole where he had a bad lie in the bunker and was just able to get the ball out.

"That was the only bad hole. The rest was calm and relaxed. I played great and I’m very happy with my game at the moment."

Maybin produced a tremendous charge to get to eight under as well, and arrived on the ninth tee having birdied three of his last four holes.

But a poor drive into the left bunker was the start of his problems on this hole.

"I had a reasonable lie but got a little greedy and hit the top of the lip. I was lucky to get it out of the bunker, but had a terrible lie in the rough and had to hack out," he said.

Only six foreigners have ever won the South African Open, the last doing so in 2000 when Swede Mathias Gronberg triumphed at Randpark Golf Club in Johannesburg.

But with so many near the top of the leaderboard, the foreign challenge is a strong one this year, with Westwood amongst the favourites only two strokes off the lead.

"I just played really solid," said Westwood. "I was aggressive with the golf course and hit a lot of drivers." Mathias Gronberg (SWE), Garth Mulroy (RSA), Henrik Stenson (SWE), Adilson da Silva (BRA), Rory McIlroy (NIR)