Clarke shines brightest at Sun City to lead from Furyk

DARREN CLARKE’S flawless 67 gave him the outright lead in a star-studded 12-man field at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City.

His five-under-par total at the Gary Player Country Club put him one ahead of American Jim Furyk, the only other player not to drop a shot on the opening day of the €3.46 million event.

Clarke, whose 2005 season was significantly affected by wife Heather’s illness, found form on the notoriously tricky Bermuda grass greens with just 26 putts in his round, starting with a birdie at the par-four third.