South African Richard Sterne breaks record to lead Nexo Championship

The Pretoria native took advantage of calm conditions on the first morning of the tournament, carding five birdies in a flawless 67 to earn a one-shot lead and break the course record.

Follow South African Thomas Aiken and Norwegian Andreas Halvorsen, who teed off together in the opening group, should have joined Sterne at five under, but both players bogeyed the last to sit one behind alongside another South Africa's Louis Albertse.

"Yeah, very happy," said the 43-year-old after the round.

"The course is very tricky even though the wind is not as bad as it was in the practice round on Tuesday and I played well.

"I hit the ball a lot better than have done for a while, so that was quite key. When I was here on Tuesday, it was about double this wind and I lost about seven or eight balls.

"I wasn't off to the world’s best start, but it is a lot calmer than it was then. I think Tuesday did me a bit of good.

"There is a long way to go this week. One day at a time and I am happy with today, so it is a good start for me."

Sterne, teeing off at the tenth, made a fast start when he tapped in from four feet at the opening par five and finished his front nine with another birdie to reach the turn at two under.

At the first, the world number 1049 birdied his third par five of the day to improve further before a brilliant tee-shot at the third saw him climb up to four under to join clubhouse leaders Halvorsen and Aiken.

He capitalised on the short par four seventh and when he rolled in his fifth birdie, Sterne was the outright leader.

Aiken was blemish-free after an eagle at the tenth in addition to three birdies before his blip at the last to set the initial tone at four under.

Playing partner Halvorsen, who eagled the seventh, mixed four birdies and two dropped shots in his 68.

Albertse started on the back nine and carded birdies at the tenth, 14th, 17th before coolly draining another at the ninth to earn a share of second at four under.

An English quintet of John Parry, Jordan Smith, Matthew Baldwin, Joe Dean and Alex Fitzpatrick, who briefly shared the lead in the afternoon, sit one adrift at three under alongside Spaniard Jorge Campillo, the United Arab Emirates' Adrian Otaegui and Dutchman Darius van Driel.

Sterne, who has not won on the DP World Tour since 2013, is in pole position to earn $10,000 through a new initiative on the DP World Tour in a partnership with title sponsor Nexo for the course record, previously set at 68, in Aberdeenshire.