Henrik Stenson defies illness to share first round lead in Sun City

First round leader Henrik Stenson admitted he was on the verge of pulling out of the Nedbank Golf Challenge due to a severe bout of flu.

Stenson gave himself only a five per cent chance of playing after being confined to bed since arriving in Sun City and pulling out of the pro-am earlier this week.

But the Swede defied the effects of the illness to fire a flawless six-under 66 and earn a share of the first-round lead with Jaco Van Zyl.

"I've been in bed with the flu for three days, and after I had to pull out of the pro-am on Tuesday I probably had a five per cent chance of playing," said Stenson, who birdied the first two holes and added four more in five holes from the seventh before parring in.

"I felt quite a bit better this morning and the doctor didn't see any reason why I couldn't play. I'm delighted with the score, but the last few holes I completely ran out of energy.

"From the 14th onwards my legs were like jelly and it was a real struggle. I missed a couple of chances coming in, but I would've taken one under par standing on the first tee, so I'm very happy."

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Meanwhile, defending champion Danny Willett also kept a bogey off his card in his five-birdie 67, and he is confident of contending for back-to-back wins on a course that clearly suits his eye.

"I played really well in the pro-am on Tuesday and played another seven holes in practice yesterday on my own trying to get a feel for the golf course again, and everything is in good shape," said Willett, runner-up to Rory McIlroy in last season's Race to Dubai.

"Because it's at the same golf course, people expect you to play well again, but everyone knows how fickle this game can be. The course does set up well for me, but that doesn't mean you're going to shoot 67 every time you play it.

"Henrik played brilliantly. He didn't miss many shots. I think he got very tired towards the end there but he played tremendous golf. Looking at that, you've got to think that if you can stay close to him over the next few days you'll be doing well. Not too close though, he can keep his virus away!"

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