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Robert Rock overcame gusty conditions at the Pearl Valley Golf Estates to lead the South African Airways Open after a solid opening round in Paarl.

Heavy winds made playing conditions extremely difficult with only four players finishing under par.

And it was Rock who led the way, shooting a two-under-par round of 70, to lead by one shot from a trio of South Africans, Ulrich van den Berg, Alex Haindl and Charl Schwartzel.

Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke was the only high-profile name in the top 10, carding a level-par round to stay in contention.

The other big names all struggled with last year's winner Ernie Els on five-over par and reigning US Open champion Angel Cabrera on eight over suffering the worst.

Another home favourite Retief Goosen also had a tough round, but remains in contention at two-over par, while Australian Greg Norman is a further shot back after two bogeys and a double bogey in his final six holes.

But it was world number 449 Rock who stood tall at the £717,806 co-sanctioned European and Sunshine Tour event, shooting five birdies and two bogeys to edge ahead of the field.

And he admitted afterwards that the wind failed to intimidate him in any way.

He said: "Starting off, even at 0700, it was blowing pretty hard. I had 29 putts and 10 fairways, so overall I was striking the ball well and holing crucial putts to save par and make birdies.

"I didn't really make any lengthy putts. I made two putts over 10-feet and I drove well but had a lot of chances early that I just wasted. All my bogeys were not the fault of the wind, they were my own mistakes. I hit good shots and gave myself chances, but I also messed up quite a fair bit. Here if you hit a bad shot, you get punished."

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