DURBAN, South Africa – England’s Daniel Brooks shot an 8-under 62 to take a one-stroke lead in the Nelson Mandela Championship on Wednesday after heavy rain disrupted the first round.
Play at the Mount Edgecombe Country Club began seven hours late after rain left many of the fairways waterlogged. More than half the field failed to complete their rounds.
Brooks is being pursued by a group of French players, led by Francois Calmels with 63 and followed by Edouard Dubois and Romain Wattel two strokes back. Sweden’s Joel Sjoholm and Ryan Cairns of Zimbabwe share fifth place after carding 65s.
Brooks, who kept his European Tour card after last month’s Qualifying School, produced eight birdies in his bogey-free round. The course was reduced to a par-70 track: The 320-yard par-4 fifth was converted into a 142-yard par-3 because of the waterlogged fairway.