Eugenio Chacarra played his last 11 holes in eight under par to share the lead of the 2026 Alfred Dunhill Championship as he and Christiaan Burke produced the lowest ever rounds at Royal Johannesburg Club.
With preferred lies in place, his 63 did not qualify as an official course record but it left him clear of the field until World Number 713 Burke wrapped up an eventful round to join him at the summit on nine under par.
The pair were one shot ahead of Burke's fellow South Africans Brandon Stone and Thriston Lawrence after a day of low scoring as the tournament moves for this year from its traditional Leopard Creek home to Royal Johannesburg Club.
Starting on the back nine, Chacarra birdied his first two holes and gave a shot back at the 15th before his outstanding scoring run kicked into gear.
He birdied the 17th and eagled the 16th, added further birdies at the first and third and finished with three in four holes.
Chacarra said: “I think I played really good golf - I’d been playing really good golf last week too, it’s just how golf is, the score wasn’t there – but I trust the plan that I have with my caddie and I think we did a tremendous job.
“Obviously the course is playing a little easier being softer but still you need to hit the shots out there.
“Happy with the start but it’s only the first round, a lot of golf left.”
On the eagle at the 18th, he added: “Great driver down the middle, I think I had 200 metres to the hole and I hit a little fade seven iron to about 12, 15 feet, pin high so it was a pretty straight putt.
“I got lucky that I saw (Wilco Nienaber’s) putt, a similar line and just a little longer, so we got a good read and we got lucky enough that the ball went in.”
Burke started with a remarkable run of six consecutive birdies, and responded to his first dropped shot of the day at the tenth with another three straight gains from the 12th.
His challenge looked to have faltered with bogeys at the 15th and 16th but he produced a birdie-eagle finish to a round featuring only four pars.
He said: “Yeah, it was really fun. Good start – always fun, a six-birdie start! It’s tough to try to (keep) the momentum after that great start, but I’m happy with how I played today.
“I only figured out after the seventh hole I made six birdies in a row! So I just took the momentum from there.
“I like this golf course, I play here a lot. It suits my game and I’m just very comfortable on this golf course.”
Stone had four birdies either side of the turn in a bogey-free round to keep the pressure on Chacarra at the summit.
Lawrence made his run after teeing off later in the day, with five birdies on his front nine and another three in the final four holes seeing him within one of the lead.
Three more home players, Branden Grace, Daniel van Tonder and Samuel Simpson, were tied at seven under with England's Brandon Robinson Thompson.
Grace, starting on the back nine, had birdies at the 14th and 17 before his round burst into life with an eagle at the 18th. He followed that up immediately with a birdie at the first, then added two more at the sixth and seventh.
Van Tonder holed a monster at the second for one of his three birdies in the first four holes, set up eagle at the sixth with a superb approach to four feet, made another birdie from the edge of the seventh green and produced an excellent up and down from a bunker beside the eighth. He bogeyed the ninth before his only birdie of the back nine at the 18th.
Simpson made seven birdies, an eagle and two bogeys while Robinson Thompson's round featured eagles at the eighth and 18th as well as four birdies and a bogey. Compatriot John Parry was tied with South Africa's Oliver Bekker on six under.
