Local favourite Charl Schwartzel was pleased with his opening round efforts at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, even if he felt he could’ve gone exceptionally low.

READ: Grace SA’s best, Schwartzel tidy on Thursday

Schwartzel’s 69 means he is two strokes behind first-round leader Bernd Wiesberger in the penultimate Race to Dubai event.

‘It’s about as solid as I’ve played this golf course,’ said Schwartzel on Thursday.

‘I hit the ball beautifully, really could have shot nothing today.’

The round was marred by a bogey on the last, but considering that the 2011 Masters champion was sick on Wednesday, he was more than grateful to be in the hunt after round one.

‘You know, would have been happy with four-under, the last putt was just terrible. Luckily it’s only the first round and got a couple to go. But I hit the ball surprisingly good after being so sick yesterday. I think someone somewhere along the line will shoot a good score. I had a 64 or 63 in me today.

‘I didn’t make a putt at all. Somewhere along the line, someone is going to do thatand that’s probably what’s going to separate them. But today, first day, everyone is probably just trying to get something done.

‘That’s maybe why it’s so congested.’

Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images