Branden Grace is two off the pace set by Johan Carlsson of Sweden on day one of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Making a rare appearance on the European Tour, where he has seven victories to his name, Grace is the leading South Africa as the new Rolex Series got under way at the West Course in Surrey, England.

Grace opened with a birdie on the first hole and never looked back. He added further birdies on 4 and 5 before finishing his front nine with another birdie for an outward 31. Playing alongside Henrik Stenson, it was Grace who came closest to challenge Stenson’s countryman at the top of the leaderboard.

Stenson struggled to get his putter going and carded 9 consecutive pars to cut a frustrated figure. Neither player could birdie the difficult par 3 10th hole and Grace joined Carlsson on -6 with an eagle three on the par 5 12th.

Unfortunately for South African fans, that’s where Grace’s momentum stalled and Stenson’s luck turned.

Grace’s accuracy from tee to green began to fail him as he dropped shots at 13 and 16 and closed with two pars – both of the par 5s.

Stenson found the green in two on 18 and two-putted to get to -4 for the day. He will be the man to watch on Friday after biding his time early on before finishing with a 33.

Next best of the 15 South Africans at this week’s $7-million event are Dean Burmester and Richard Sterne, who carded 69s. Jaco Van Zyl finished on -1 with Rocco Forte Open runner-up Zander Lombard two off that mark.

Haydn Porteous and Dylan Frittelli have it all to do to make the cut after rounds of 74 and 75.

Earlier, Ernie Els fired an opening 71 – read that report HERE