Justin Harding came back from six weeks off and carded a three-under-par 67 to slip into second place in the first round of the Vodacom Origins of Golf event at Wild Coast Sun Country Club in Port Edward on Wednesday.

Harding trailed Vaughn Groenewald by one stroke after a day characterised by strong winds on the 5,807-metre par-70 coastal layout.

  After winning the Vodacom Origins of Golf final at Oubaai last year for his maiden title, and taking the Lombard Insurance Classic for his second Sunshine Tour title in June, Harding injured himself when he slipped while climbing over a gate and caught his upper arm on a spike.

  “I had eight stitches, and went through the whole emergency room thing,” Harding said.

  He was given the go-ahead to resume playing only last Friday.

  “I was nervous on the first tee, and coming down the stretch,” he said.

  “But I wasn’t concerned about the arm, because I’d played a few practice rounds already.”

  Harding started his round on the 10th as the wind had reached its unrelenting peak, and he made birdies on the 12th and 16th to turn in two under par.

  He dropped a single shot on the second after the turn, but he made that up immediately with a birdie on the third. His fourth birdie came on the sixth.

  Groenewald also dropped just a single shot in his round, and was buoyed by a feeling of confidence that had grown throughout the year.

  “I’ve been leading in three tournaments this year, and just messed it up a bit,” Groenewald said.

  “The more tournaments I play and the more I get into position, the more confidence I get.”

 Jean Hugo, a two-time Vodacom Origins of Golf winner this year, carded a one-under-par 69 to share third with Neil Cheetham and Shaun Norris.

Scores

-4 — Vaughn Groenewald 

-3 — Justin Harding 

-1 — Neil Cheetham (ENG), Shaun Norris, Jean Hugo  Par — Theunis Spangenberg, Christiaan Basson, Daniel Greene 

+1 — Johan du Buisson, Colin Nel, Jbe’ Kruger, Merrick Bremner, Tjaart van der Walt, Prinavin Nelson, Ulrich van den Berg, Andrew Curlewis [15] 

+2 — Teboho Sefatsa, Louis de Jager, Warren Abery, Oliver Bekker, Ryan Cairns (ZIM), Louis Moolman, Albert Pistorius 

+3 — Adilson da Silva (BRA), Des Terblanche, David Hewan, Jacques Blaauw, Chris Swanepoel, Darren Fichardt, Charl Coetzee, PH McIntyre 

+4 — Coenie Stoop, Brandon Pieters, JG Claassen, Alex Haindl, Bradford Vaughan, Brett Liddle, Jeff Inglis (ENG), Jake Roos, Lindani Ndwandwe, Michiel Bothma 

+5 — Grant Muller, Doug McGuigan, Grant Veenstra, Desvonde Botes 

+6 — Michael du Toit, Dean O’Riley, Omar Sandys, Mark Murless, Keith Horne, Jaco Ahlers, Allan Versfeld, Ryan Tipping 

+7 — Ryan Strauss, Wallie Coetsee, Stuart Clark (WAL), Willie van der Merwe, Mark Fensham, JJ Senekal, Justin Walters [15] 

+8 — Michael Scholz, Louis Calitz, James Kamte 

+9 — Bryce Easton, Alan Michell, Trevor Fisher Jnr, Peter Karmis 

+10 — Neil Schietekat, Tyrone Ferreira, Divan van den Heever, Anthony Michael  +11 — Lyle Rowe