PRETORIA, Feb 28, 2013 (AFP) - The 37-year-old from Pretoria was continuing good recent form which saw him surive late final-round jitters to win the Africa Open by two strokes in East London two weeks ago.
A bogey five on the seventh -- the third last hole for Fichardt as he started at the 10th -- was the sole blemish over the par-72 7,791-yard (7,124-metre) Copperleaf Golf and Country Estate course south-west of here.
He had five birdies on his front nine of a course designed by South African golf legend Ernie Els and a further three on his second nine before he came to grief at the 390-yard (357-metre) seventh hole.
"What a funny game," said four-time European Tour winner Fichardt. "I birdied all of the tough holes on this great course and then I bogey the easiest one. That is how this game is.
"I got a bad bounce off the tee and it went into a bunker. Despite a horrendous lie, I managed to get my second to the front edge of the green, chipped it close and missed the short putt."
Fichardt is one stroke ahead of Bjorn Akesson of Sweden in the 1.5-million-euro ($1.970 million) tournament with 237,750 euros ($310,690) going to the first winner of the sixth and final European Tour event in South Africa.
Among those two shots off the pace on 67 are English pair David Howell and Gary Lockerbie, South Africans Charl Coetzee and Jean Hugo, Chilean Mark Tullo and Indian Jeev Milkha Singh.
Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland did best of the three Major winners in the 156-strong field by shooting a 69, Michael Campbell of New Zealand had an even-par 72 and there was a 76 from Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain.
Clarke won the British Open two years ago, Campbell topped the 2005 US Open leaderboard, and 2012 Ryder Cup-winning captain Olazabal was the 1994 and 1999 US Masters champion.
Olazabal now faces a fight Friday to make the halfway cut and so does 14/1 pre-Tshwane Open favourite Jaco van Zyl of South Africa, who could manage only a three-over 75, the same score carded by fancied compatriot Thomas Aiken.
Leading first round scores in Tshwane Open at par-72, 7,791-yard (7,124-metre) Copperleaf Golf and Country Estate Thursday (RSA unless noted):
65 - Darren Fichardt
66 - Bjorn Akesson (SWE)
67 - Charl Coetzee, David Howell (ENG), Jean Hugo, Gary Lockerbie (ENG), Jeev Milkha Singh (IND), Mark Tullo (CHI)
68 - Jaco Ahlers, Scott Arnold (AUS), Merrick Bremner, Dean Burmester, Damien McGrane (IRL), Vaughn Groenewald, Justin Harding, Keith Horne, David Horsey (ENG), Mikko Korhonen (FIN), Joel Sjoholm (SWE), Shaun Smith, Peter Uihlein (USA), Simon Wakefield (ENG), Dawie van der Walt, Danny Willett (ENG)
69 - Desvonde Botes, Jorge Campillo (ESP), Darren Clarke (NIR), Divan van den Heever, James Kamte, Joost Luiten (NED), Garth Mulroy, Colin Nel, Jake Roos, Adilson Da Silva (BRA), Ruan de Smidt, Mark Williams
70 - Matthew Baldwin (ENG), Christiaan Basson, James Busby (ENG), Jacques Blaauw, Ryan Cairns (ZIM), Richard Finch (ENG), Oliver Fisher (ENG), Alex Haindl, James Kingston, Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Morten Orum Madsen (DEN), Thabo Maseko, Graham van der Merwe, Grant Muller, Matthew Nixon (ENG), Eddie Pepperell (ENG), Albert Pistorius, Anthony Snobeck (FRA), Graeme Storm (ENG), Marc Warren (SCO), Romain Wattel (FRA)