Keith Horne was the leading South African during round one of the Hero Indian Open but has two holes to finish as bad light forced the early close of play.
Horne was -5 through 16 before light issues halted his charge.
The 46-year-old, who won the VOG-Arabella last year, was in the group chasing overnight leader Emiliano Grillo, who carded a 65 to equal the course record.
The Argentinian is an invite this week having only played two European Tour events outside of the Majors and World Golf Championships since 2015 and was making the best of his opportunity at DLF Golf and Country Club.
The New Delhi layout is one of the toughest on Tour – with the severity of the course meaning that 24 players could not finish their rounds due to the number of rulings required throughout the day.
Grillo is the fourth highest ranked player in the field but fared better than the trio who started the week more fancied in terms of the rankings. Shubhankar Sharma, fresh off confirmation that he will play in The Masters, was +1 for the day, Joost Luiten was -1 and Julian Suri slumped to a +4 start.
South Africans will be pleased with Horne’s effort on Thursday as he played his way into contention without a single drop shot. He turned in -4 and got to -5 with a birdie on the 1st (his 10th) before a run of six pars as darkness descended.
At -3 is Shaun Norris, who’s card was a little more colourful than his countryman. Norris turned in one over with a double drop on the 16th but finished his back nine with an eagle 2 on the seventh and a birdie on the 8th with a bogey on each side.
Erik Van Rooyen is level par while Jbe Kruger is facing a weekend off after a 79.
