Darren Clarke's lowest European Tour round since 1999 was still not quite enough to give him the first round lead in the Joburg Open.
The 40-year-old Ulsterman shot an eight-under-par 63 over the easier West Course at Royal
Johannesburg and Kensington, but little-known South African Neil Schietekat then went one better.
Ranked only 1,074th in the world, Schietekat turned his form in the event on its head. He missed the halfway cut the last two years after opening with scores of 79 and 77.
This time the 25-year-old grabbed nine birdies and kept a bogey off his card. But he faces the far more demanding East lay-out on Friday - and the two rounds after that assuming he makes the cut.
"It's all about putting. I changed my grip last month and it's started to pay off now," said Schietekat on the Sunshine Tour website.
The last time Clarke shot lower was his Tour record-equalling 60 in the 1999 European Open, much closer to home at The K Club near Dublin.
"I hit it close a lot of times and the only putt I really holed was on 17 from about 20 feet," he said.
On a day of low scoring - placing was allowed on the fairways because of heavy recent rain, with another storm causing a hold-up of 102 minutes in the afternoon - there were four other 63s.
They came from England's Simon Khan, winner of the Tour qualifying school in November, and David Lynn and South African pair Charl Schwartzel and Jbe Kruger.
Clarke's playing partner Schwartzel is in a rich vein of form. Last Sunday he won the Africa Open and last month he was runner-up to Pablo Martin at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
© Press Association