THE surprise leader on day one at the Celtic Manor was little-known South African Keith Horne, writes Andrew Penman.

The 39-year-old from Durban shot a near flawless 64 to finish on seven under par, a shot clear of second-placed Peter Hanson.

Horne was one of the first to tee off at 7.45am and he sounded an early warning to the big names in the field with a birdie on the second hole and that was followed by six more on holes nine, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 18.

“I thought the golf course was probably playing as easy as it’s going to play,” he said. “I actually really enjoyed the back nine, it gets really interesting.

“I did some work with Hennie Otto and my coach, just a couple of key thoughts that I changed,” he added.

“I was a little bit too nervous to stray from them and I think that helped a lot because I couldn’t get too far ahead of myself, the way I’ve been playing lately.

“So I just stuck to my key thoughts all the way round and got pretty comfortable. We’ll see if it carries on.”

Hanson is a shot behind Horne after a six under par 65 and he was delighted to be back on the course where he helped Europe win the Ryder Cup last October.

“It was fantastic to come back here. Just seeing your name on that locker again is just very special,” said the Swede, who played with fellow Team Europe member Graeme McDowell.

“We have so many great memories coming here as a team and building, growing that friendship with those teammates. It was very nice.

“I think I learned a lot about myself in the Ryder Cup,” he added. “I learned a lot about how to control emotions and nerves and I’m very happy with how I’ve played since then.

“I will try to be in a position to give myself a chance on Sunday afternoon and if I get in that situation I’m going to be very aggressive and do everything to win.”

Late finishers Alvaro Velasco of Spain and England’s Steve Webster and Paul Broadhurst are all two shots off the lead after carding a five under par 66 as the sun set on a beautiful day in Newport.