Fisher king, but Hoey in hunt

STEVEN JEPPESEN shares the lead with Trevor Fisher Jnr after the pair carded opening-round eight-under-par 63s at the Joburg Open yesterday.

But Ballymoney’s Michael Hoey is only a shot back after a sparkling opening 64 in the co-sanctioned European and Sunshine Tour event, with Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, Edoardo Molinari, Patrik Sjoland, Andrew McLardy, Rafael Cabrera Bello and David Drysdale all on six under par – the latter two being the only players amongst the leaders to shoot bogey-free rounds.

Hoey, who carded a 75 in the opening round last year, said: “I am pretty happy, I played here last year and the weather wasn’t great. It didn’t help as I wasn’t playing well at all.