Alfred Dunhill Championship: Matt Ford three off the lead

“For me this is exceptional, I really played well today”, he said. “It’s five weeks (on the tour) in a row now for me, I feel a little bit exhausted but you feel when you come home it doesn’t feel like a normal tournament week”, he said.

Davies’ 69 sees him tucked in tied 13th spot, five shots adrift of South Africa’s Christiaan Basson, but just two strokes away from second spot.

Basson shot an error-free 64 to lie on eight under par and lead Schwartzel, Swindon’s Matt Ford and Zimbabwes Mark Williams by three shots.

The 43-year-old Swede was presented with an ice bucket to mark the occasion and, after going out in the opening group of the day from the first, he carded an eagle, four birdies and two bogeys.

Louis Oosthuizen is targeting a first victory at this week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship, at a course he loves playing on. A double bogey on the par-four sixth was followed by further dropped shots on the eighth and ninth to make the turn in two-over-par, 37.

When play was suspended due to bad weather at Leopard Creek, Hanson playing his first European Tour event after winning his card last Thursday was level par with four holes to play.

Shinkwin got off to an excellent start to the tournament after moving to five-under-par early on with three birdies and an eagle.

“The heat, the golf courses, they seem to suit me over here, the weather, the food the surroundings, the people – it’s all great”.

Conwy’s Boulden, the European Tour’s rookie of the year in 2014, came through second stage qualifying at Plantation Golf Club, Venice, in the Sunshine State last month to join LPGA Tour veteran Morgan at final qualifying at the LPGA International resort, Daytona Beach.

He made a steady start on the back nine with four successive pars before another bogey on 14.

Basson’s previous best European Tour finish in 30 events was a tie for tenth at The South African Open in the 2014 season.