Horne joins early pace setter and countryman Trevor Fisher Jr at the head of the field

He is no stranger to the top of the leader board but this time South Africa's Keith Horne hopes he can stay the course across four rounds of the SA Open.

Late on Thursday afternoon Horne joined early pace setter and countryman Trevor Fisher Jr at the head of the field on six-under to hold a one shot advantage over tournament favourite Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy‚ South Africans Thomas Aiken‚ Dean Burmeister and Jbe Kruger‚ as well as England's Jordan Smith.

Horne‚ who also led after the first round here last year and had set the pace at last month's Alfred Dunhill Championships before fading‚ hopes his form will linger until late Sunday afternoon.

“I think that final round at Leopard Creek was the most disappointing in 20 years as a professional. I had played so well and to do that was really disappointing.

"It is nice to be back in the mix. Hopefully I can put four good rounds together.”

Not that his 66 was all plain sailing. Horne found only four fairways with his driver.

“I think it was just rhythm. A bit of Christmas pudding to get rid of. I think with the longer club my timing was just way out. I kept missing it right. I found my rhythm with the irons early on.”

His shot game was on song too and helped him reel in Fisher Jr.

In largely pleasant scoring conditions Fisher Jr put down an early marker with a round that included six birdies on the front nine before he lost some steam on the inward holes.

Playing out of nearby Modderfontein Golf Club‚ Fisher Jr's knowledge of local conditions would have stood him in good stead but he'll need no reminding that McIlroy effortlessly constructed his round despite relatively limited intelligence of what the course and overhead conditions may throw at him.

As it turned out McIlroy fired a five-under 67 before promising he could go better if the favourable conditions persisted.

Rain is‚ however‚ forecast for Friday and Saturday which may alter things. If anything however‚ the Ulsterman may benefit if things turn a little soggy.

Aiken showed no rust from a five-week lay-off to card a very competitive total‚ while Burmeister believes the form with which he finished 2016 has survived end of year excesses.

“It's nice to keep the ball rolling‚” remarked Burmeister whose only blemish came at the 12th.

“I just made a bad swing on 12 and then I made this double bogey there but other than that it was a flawless round of golf and I'm pretty happy.”

Burmeister laid bare what it meant to have a player of McIlroy's stature in the field. “When we all heard Rory was coming a lot of us put in a lot of extra work and it would be nice to go down the stretch with him come Sunday. But I'm just happy.”

Darren Fichardt also vacated the starters blocks in a rush and had shot out to five-under after eight holes. His round first showed signs of a wobble on the ninth‚ while further drops on the 12th and the 13th further stunted his progress.

His finishing birdie on the 18th was greeted with a loud cheer. He finished four-under.

Another Northern Irishman Darren Clarke carded a two-under 70‚ as did George Coetzee.

Tournament host Ernie Els shot 74 in a round that included three birdies and five drops. Defending champion Brandon Stone disappointed with the same score.

Six-time Major winner Sir Nick Faldo struggled with distance control on some of his approach shots on the inward nine but he still made two birdies on that stretch to finish two-under.

Retief Goosen had a round to forget. Two double bogeys and a triple bogey featured in his round of 80. - TMG Digital