Rock: one clear

South African Airways Open
First round leaders
SA unless stated
-2 R Rock (Eng)
-1 A Haindl
-1 C Shwartzel
-1 U Van Den Berg

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Collated scores

England's Robert Rock leads the South African Airways Open by a shot after the field struggled to cope with blustery conditions in Paarl.

The 30-year-old midlander was just one of four players to break par as the big guns - with the exception of Darren Clarke - failed to fire on day one.

"You have to accept your shots are not going to get as close to the hole as they normally would. This is really a week for chipping and putting and the short game," said Rock, who has yet to win on the European Tour.

Northern Ireland's Clarke carded a level par 72 to lie two shots off the pace, a shot behind South Africans Alex Haindl, Charl Schwartzel and Ulrich Van Den Berg.

Defending champion Ernie Els and US Open champion Angel Cabrera were two of the star names to suffer in the windy conditions.

Torrid

Els endured a torrid time as he carded a five-over par round of 77, including two double bogeys, while Cabrera slumped to an 80.

Former world number one Greg Norman - making a rare appearance on the European Tour - was one-under par after 11 holes but had two sixes on his back nine and had to settle for a 75.

Two-time former US Open champion Retief Goosen is one better after a 74.

After his 33rd place finish at the Alfred Dunhill Championship last week and a disappointing year in which he has slumped to number 258 in the world rankings, Northern Ireland's Clarke was back on from.

"As I said earlier this week, I am playing really nice and I did the same again today," Clarke said.

"I played really good all day, but threw away a couple coming home just like I did last week. But overall I am playing really nicely.

Tough

"The course is really tough, especially in the wind this morning. It could die down some time this afternoon and then some players could make a move, but then again it could blow. Time will tell."

Earlier, two-time winner Trevor Immelman was forced to withdraw after just two holes. The 27-year-old complained of a rib problem that affected his breathing.