It was a day of mixed fortunes for the host national hopefuls in the European Tour’s BMW South African Open. While Jaco van Zyl claimed the clubhouse lead with a sparkling seven-under 65 at Glendower, his major-winning compatriot Ernie Els suffered another attack of the dreaded yips as he slipped to an over-par start before play was suspended due to the threat of lightning.

Els, who started on the 10th tee, had been three-over-par with three holes to play before reviving his chances of a sixth victory in his home Open with a birdie on the seventh and an eagle on the par-five eighth.

However, the four-time major winner then three-putted the ninth, his final hole, to card a one-over-par 73 with the 46-year-old's par putt from 18 inches not even touching the hole.

"It's brutal,” observed Scotsman Andrew Coltart with a hefty degree of sympathy as he cast his eye over Els’ troubles from his perch in the commentary box. “He is a lot more comfortable from 15 to 20 feet; the expectation level is lower, no pressure on himself and he can breathe normally and just go through the stroke no problem at all. You come into the three- or four-foot range and things are completely different."

Els missed two similar putts in the space of a month towards the end of last season and admitted at the time he did not want to watch the first of them, during the Dunhill Links Championship, after it went viral on the internet.

''I knew what it felt like and it was a thing of disaster," Els said at the time. ''If anybody has ever seen the yips, that was the perfect yip stroke.

"In the game of golf, you're going to do some silly things when you play it long enough and I had my moment there. Hopefully I won't have too many of those again.''

Compatriot Van Zyl had no such concerns as he looked to add a first European Tour title to his 13 wins on the Sunshine Tour, the world number 65 firing an eagle, six birdies and one bogey to card an opening 65.

"I had a couple of weeks off spending time with the family and had my share of whisky and Christmas pudding so it was really nice to get off to a good start," Van Zyl said.

Asked about the prospect of winning his national open, Van Zyl added: "It would be absolutely phenomenal. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

"We compete in a lot of big events week in, week out, but for a South African player this is obviously so much closer to your heart. This means so much more to us."

Van Zyl held a one-shot lead over compatriot Shaun Norris, with fellow South Africans Keith Horne and Jbe Kruger both completing rounds of 67 shortly before play was suspended.

Two-time major winner Retief Goosen was a shot further back after a round containing eight birdies and two double bogeys, with defending champion Andy Sullivan struggling to a 75, which included four-putting from 25 feet on the 17th.

David Drysdale was making good progress at four-under with three to play and an eagle on the 15th from the Scot before the suspension halted play kept him among the frontrunners.

His compatriot, Craig Lee, was level-par with one to play while Jamie McLeary was two-over after 16. Perth amateur Danny Young, who was invited to the event as a reward for winning last year’s South African Amateur Championship, struggled to a 79.