Four-way tie at the top after round one in Stellenbosch

Alejandro Del Rey led a four-way tie at the top of the leaderboard alongside former winner Dean Burmester, Joe Dean and Oliver Lindell at the 2026 Investec South African Open Championship.

Del Rey set the clubhouse target at five under after bouncing back from a bogey with six birdies in his 65 before 2023 champion Burmester, Englishman Dean and Finland's Lindell matched the 28-year-old's total.

There is no course record at Stellenbosch Golf Club, meaning if nobody goes lower than the Spaniard's score for the rest of the week then Del Rey - because he was the first in the clubhouse - will take home $100,000 courtesy of the Course Record Presented by Nexo.

Home hopeful Herman Loubser, American Johannes Veerman, England's Nathan Kimsey and Italian Francesco Laporta were one shot further back, while eight players were locked at three under in a logjammed leaderboard.

"Very pleased. At the start of the round it was a little bit tough, I hit a couple of bad shots and managed to fix it," Del Rey said. "Came into the back nine with a little bit of wind, it was a bit difficult, but hit it really well on the back nine and managed to make a couple of putts for a very good round.

"You've got to be very accurate with your irons. I thought I did very well today and hopefully I keep doing that for the rest of the week."

The Spaniard had a steady start with seven straight pars before dropping his only shot at the 17th, his eighth, before a birdie blitz from the ninth catapulted him into contention.

He reeled off four straight birdies to get into the red numbers before adding another at the fifth to sit alongside Loubser and Veerman, who were both in the clubhouse, at four under.

However, Del Rey held his nerve from eight feet for a birdie at the ninth to set the initial mark at five under.

Like Del Rey, Burmester endured an early bogey at the second before rattling a hat-trick of birdies from the third to reach the turn in 33.

Three more birdies in the first four holes of the back nine saw him sit alongside the leading Spaniard, only to bogey the 14th.

Burmester drove through the par-four 17th green on the way to regaining that shot before closing with a par to become joint leader at five under.

Dean, starting on the back nine, birdied the 12th, 13th, 15th and 17th as he flew up the leaderboard in Stellenbosch before carding his only dropped shot at the fifth.

He hit back with a birdie at the sixth before finishing with another for a three-way tie at the top, but Lindell's flawless opening round was worthy of sitting at the summit.

The Finn could only muster a gain at the fifth on his front nine, but a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th saw him contend. Lindell finished with a flourish from 20 feet for a brilliant 65.

Loubser carded six birdies and two bogeys in his 66, Veerman signed for five gains and a dropped shot, Kimsey hit an eagle, three birdies and a bogey and Laporta recorded seven gains and three dropped shots to sit at four under.

South African quartet Dylan Frittelli. Casey Jarvis, Haydn Porteous and Xander Basson, Emirati Adrian Otaegui, Spain's Angel Ayora, Japan's Rikuya Hoshino and Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat are all two off the pace.