As the shadows lengthened Keith Horne emerged from the chasing pack to join Trevor Fisher Jnr at the top of the leader board after the first round of the SA Open yesterday.
Three birdies on the front nine provided a platform, but it was the four he posted on the inward nine that catapulted him to the top.
A protégé of former tour winner Hugh Baiocchi, Horne had to overcome demons off the tee, finding just four fairways with his driver.
His 66 can be put down to crisp iron play and assured putting.
"If I'm going to be in contention I'm going to have to sort out my game off the tee. My irons and my putting kept me in it," he said.
Fisher Jnr held the lead for most of the day.
"What I'm working on now is my face angle . I go into the ball and point my club at the target.
"I've been a bit left. Now when I address the ball it feels a bit open but I've just got to trust it over the next few days," he said.
But while Fisher Jnr is fighting instinct, tournament favourite Rory McIlroy has quickly made peace with the thin air of the Highveld, displaying impeccable distance control on the opening day. Not all his putts dropped, however.
"There were a few putts where I felt I hit a good line but they were just lacking a little bit of speed. I tried to get more aggressive as the round went on," he said.
McIlroy is a shot back on 67 along with South Africans Thomas Aiken, Dean Burmeister and Jbe Kruger, and England's Jordan Smith.