Who is leading the 2024 Nedbank Golf Challenge after day 1? Leaderboard explored

The first round of the 2024 Nedbank Golf Challenge on the DP World Tour was played on Thursday (Dec. 5) at the Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, South Africa. The defending champion of the so-called "Africa's Major", Max Homa, is once again leading this edition of the event.

Homa tops the Nedbank Golf Challenge at 6 under. Six players are chasing him on three shots or less.

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2024 Nedbank Golf Challenge Day 1 Leaderboard revealed

Here is the Nedbank Golf Challenge leaderboard after the first round (only the top 50 are included):

• 1 Max Homa -6
• 2 Ockie Strydom -5
• T3 Pablo Larrazábal -3
• T3 Andy Sullivan -3
• T3 Matthew Jordan -3
• T3 Thorbjørn Olesen -3
• T7 Robin Williams -2
• T7 Romain Langasque -2
• T7 Ugo Coussaud -2
• T7 Johannes Veerman -2
• T7 Christiaan Bezuidenhout -2
• T12 Julien Guerrier -1
• T12 Dan Bradbury -1
• T12 Alex Fitzpatrick -1
• T12 Elvis Smylie -1
• T12 Ewen Ferguson -1
• T12 Wenyi Ding -1
• T12 Todd Clements -1
• T12 Niklas Norgaard -1
• T12 Mackenzie Hughes -1
• T12 Daniel Brown -1
• T12 Thriston Lawrence -1
• T23 Jordan Gumberg E
• T23 Angel Hidalgo E
• T23 Frederic LaCroix E
• T23 Marcel Siem E
• T23 Jordan Smith E
• T23 Sam Bairstow E
• T23 Daniel Hillier E
• T23 Yuto Katsuragawa E
• T23 Simon Forsström E
• T23 Paul Waring E
• T23 Corey Conners E
• T34 Laurie Canter +1
• T34 Nacho Elvira +1
• T34 Aldrich Potgieter +1
• T34 Adrian Otaegui +1
• T34 Danny Willett +1
• T34 Francesco Laporta +1
• T34 Nicolai Højgaard +1
• T41 Brandon Stone +2
• T41 Matteo Manassero +2
• T41 Will Zalatoris +2
• T44 Ryggs Johnston +3
• T44 Jorge Campillo +3
• T44 Sebastian Söderberg +3
• T44 Erik van Rooyen +3
• T48 Bernd Wiesberger +4
• T48 Dylan Frittelli +4
• T48 Guido Migliozzi +4
• T48 Thomas Detry +4
• T48 Aaron Cockerill +4
• T48 Jesper Svensson +4
• T48 Darius Van Driel +4
• T48 Connor Syme +4
• T48 Ryo Hisatsune +4
• T48 Dale Whitnell +4

Max Homa carded eight birdies and two bogeys in the first round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge. The PGA Tour star is looking for his second win on the European Tour.

Speaking to the DP World Tour News Service after his first round, Max Homa said:

"It felt really good because I haven’t played a tournament in a while and I have been working on a lot of new stuff, so to come out and birdie the first three holes was cool. The way I was doing it felt nice and I felt really comfortable with the golf swing for the most part, so it is definitely one I will remember, that is for sure."

Local player Ockie Strydom was bogey-free with four birdies and an eagle until the 14th. On the 15th, Strydom overshot the green with his second shot and then missed an eight-foot putt for par. It was his only bogey of the day, as he parred the final four holes.

The Nedbank Golf Challenge is a limited field tournament with only 66 players competing in the 2024 edition. It has a purse of $6 million.