Daniel Brooks retained his lead as Oliver Bekker climbed the leaderboard before play was abandoned for the day at The Nelson Mandela Championship presented by ISPS Handa.
After a seven hour delay before play began on Wednesday, only four hours and 23 minutes of play were possible on Thursday morning before the Mount Edgecombe course became saturated by heavy rain once more.
During that time nobody bettered Brooks’ eight under par 62, although South African Bekker did advance to six under through 14 holes to join French pair Edouard Dubois and Romain Wattel in third. Their compatriot François Calmels is second after a 63.
The first round will resume at 6:00 on Friday, with round two starting at 6:40.
Bekker, who turned 29 on Wednesday, said: “You just keep your head down and grind. There’s nothing you can do about it.
“If you can get past the mental battle and accept that it’s the same for everyone, then I think you’ve already beaten half of the field.
“I’m actually happy with the delay, to be honest. The weather is brutal out there at the moment and I’ve got a couple of tough holes coming up, so hopefully it clears up and those holes become a little easier when I go back out.
“Today I made a couple of good putts and things have been going my way. Those little breaks make a big difference in bad weather. The forecast for tomorrow and Saturday is pretty good, so if it clears up we could get a few good rounds in.”
The three-time Sunshine Tour winner turned in just 29 strokes, and will now have his sights set on Qualifying School graduate Brooks – who was delighted to have finished his round on Wednesday.
“I was completely focused on getting to the 18th tee box when we got called in,” said the 26 year old. “That probably helped, in a way, because I just kept playing and the result was good.”
Local favourites and European Tour winners Branden Grace and Darren Fichardt both birdied the 12th to reach four under and climb into the top ten, but defending champion Scott Jamieson was two over with five to play.
