Sergio soars into early lead at Sun City
Tournament: Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player  Rolex Series: Seventh Rolex Series tournament of 2018  Race to Dubai: Tournament 46 of 47 events Venue: Gary Player Country Club, Sun City, South Africa Prize fund: US$7,500,000
This image of Sergio Garcia is displayed by courtesy of Getty Images Round One Report Sergio Garcia fired a brilliant bogey-free 64 to open up a commanding four-shot lead after round one of the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player. The Spaniard has won twice before at Gary Player Country Club before this event joined the European Tour International Schedule and his eight-under par score is his lowest round in Sun City since he claimed his first title in 2001. It was also Garcia's lowest opening round of the season by two shots and left him four clear of fellow Masters Tournament winner Charl Schwartzel, Finn Mikko Korhonen and Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera. That gap matched the largest of the season after 18 holes, recorded by Arjun Atwal at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open almost 12 months ago. Since being selected as a Captain's Pick for The 2018 Ryder Cup by Thomas Bjørn, Garcia has had a top ten at the Portugal Masters, won three points at Le Golf National to become Europe's all-time leading scorer and won the Andalucia Valderrama Masters hosted by his own foundation. The 38 year old is now going in search of a second win in a row and a first Rolex Series victory in South Africa. There was then a group of six players at three under including 2010 Open Championship winner Louis Oosthuizen, with defending champion Branden Grace and New Zealander Ryan Fox at two under, and Race to Dubai hopefuls Li Haotong and Rory McIlroy a further one and two shots back respectively. Player Quotes Sergio Garcia: “Very excited and very pleased about the round. This is not a golf course that plays easy when it's a little bit breezy like it was today. When it swirls, it's even tougher. I managed to keep the ball in play nicely. I hit a lot of greens, which is important to do here with the little spots that you can put the pins in, and I managed to roll some nice putts. You know, it was a good combination of the whole game. “It's nice, but it's still the first day. There's still a lot of golf to be played and a lot of tough days to come around. Obviously it's nice to start like that, I'm not going to lie, but there's still a lot of golf to be played.” Mike Lorenzo-Vera: “Very happy the way I've been hitting the ball today was really a good performance. Bogey-free, and the long game was proper consistent. I've been working really hard on my swing like the last three, four days. Even in Turkey last week, I was out of the tournament so I searched for something that can make me hit the driver good, and I think I found it. Managed to hit good off the tee here and makes it easier if you come from the fairway. “It’s great to be in South Africa. The courses are fantastic every time and the quality of the course is great. I was walking on the course yesterday, and I see some elephants. Today it was zebra. It's something you don't see often. It's nice, just pure pleasure.” Mikko Korhonen: “I'm very pleased the way I played. I made a lot of fairways. Hit the middle of the greens when I had to and create a few chances and made a few birdies. Obviously it's nice to play well in such big tournaments, and I'm playing the World Cup after Dubai with Mikko Ilonen, so will be nice to have something left for that, as well. “The experience so far this week at Sun City has be great. It’s a beautiful place and everything is so nice here.” Charl Schwartzel: "This morning I thought it was very difficult. The wind blew a lot in the beginning and those first few holes are all straight into the wind, and at this course starting well here is key. So I got off to a good start, only one bogey today and it was on eight, but drove the ball really well and it was a good start. “Everything is good. I said at the beginning of the week this is about as good as I have ever played, so it’s nice to play at home with course I know and start building confidence and you will probably start seeing some good results.” Round One Scores par 72 64 S Garcia (Spn) 68 C Schwartzel (SAf) , M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) , M Korhonen (Finland). 69 B Hebert (Fra) , A Wu (China) , A Sullivan (Eng) , M Wallace (Eng) , J Scrivener (Australia) , L Oosthuizen (SAf) 70 R Fox (NZ) , B Grace (SAf) 71 L Westwood (Eng) , S Lowry (Ire) , J Campillo (Spn) , A Pavan (Ita) , M Fitzpatrick (Eng) , H Li (Chn) , R Fisher (Eng) , T Pulkkanen (Finland). 72 R McEvoy (Eng) , P Waring (Eng) , D Burmester (SAf), C Paisley (Eng) , J Lagergren (Swe) , J Luiten (Netherlands), R  McIlroy (NIre , A Rai (Eng) , R Paratore (Ita) , M Schwab (Austria). 73 S Horsfield (Eng) , D Frittelli (SAf) , P Harrington (Ire) , A Johnston (Eng) , G Coetzee (SAf) , W Ormsby (Australia) 74 S Sharma (India) , P Larrazábal (Spn) , M Kinhult (Swe) , T Immelman (SAf) , A Otaegui (Spn) , J Guerrier (Fra) , N Elvira (Spn) , H Tanihara (Jpn) , L Slattery (Eng) , D Fichardt (SAf) , B Stone (SAf)  75 T Detry (Belgium) , O Fisher (Eng) , A Björk (Swe) , T Lewis (Eng) , K Aphibarnrat (Thailand) , M Kieffer (Ger) , L Bjerregaard (Denmark) , N Colsaerts (Belgium) , R Rock (Eng) , G Green (Malaysia). 76 L Herbert (Australia) , M Kaymer (Ger) , T Aiken (SAf) , T Bjørn (Denmark) , 77 J Dantorp (Swe) , R Sterne (SAf) , S Gallacher (Sco) , E Van Rooyen (SAf) , 78 M Pavon (Fra) , A Chesters (Eng) , P Dunne (Ire) , D Willett (Eng)  79 J Smith (Eng)  80 M Southgate (Eng) 81 A Levy (Fra)