Sun City, Nov 28: Allenby and Scott were joined on 66 by American Chris DiMarco and Northen Ireland's Darren Clarke, on a day when the players generally posted low scores. One shot further back were American Jerry Kelly and Stuart Appleby of Australia, with another Australian Stephen Leaney in a group of three players on 4-under. The course was perhaps at its most forgiving despite some of the longest rough seen in recent years. Overnight rain had softened the greens and made them more receptive allowing the players to take make aggressive shots. Defending champion and world number three Ernie Els of South Africa was one of the disappointments of the day, shooting an even par 72 the first time he has failed to break par in 29 rounds at Sun City. First round scores: 65 Kenny Perry (U.S.), Vijay Singh (Fiji) 66 Darren Clarke (Britain), Chris DiMarco (U.S.), Robert Allenby (Australia), Adam Scott (Australia) 67 Jerry Kelly (U.S.), Stuart Appleby (Australia) 68 Tim Clark (South Africa), Sergio Garcia (Spain), Stephen Leaney (Australia) 69 Nick Price (Zimbabwe) 70 Retief Goosen (South Africa), Jay Haas (U.S.) 71 Fred Funk (U.S.) 72 Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Ernie Els (South Africa) 73 Charles Howell III (U.S.)


Bureau Report