McGinley & Dodd's lead with 66's

Paul McGinley was left thanking his American snub as he led the way at the Dunhill Championship in South Africa.

The Irishman is joint leader with Welshman Stephen Dodd in Johannesburg after a six-under par 66 on the day former footballer Roy Wegerle carded a 76 in his first European Tour event.

McGinley is only playing at the Houghton Country Club after a lack of invites kept him away from the January events on the US PGA Tour.

After a bogey free round, McGinley said: "I'm surprised to lead but pleased especially as I am only here because I didn't get the invites I was hoping to get.

"I wasn't getting consecutive weeks in America so I decided to withdraw and come here. I'm disappointed, but I don't want to make an issue with the PGA Tour.

"I'm 32 on the world rankings and I'm a current Ryder Cup player. If I was a sponsor I would want the highest ranking players in my field. Obviously they had their reasons, but they didn't give me them. At the end of the day it's their decision."

Greg Owen and South African James Kingston were among seven players at five-under-par, with Ernie Els and Retief Goosen in a group of 10 players a further stroke back on McGinley and Dodd.

The Irishman is just back on tour after a six week break and he admitted: "Often it's good to be fresh. I scored well but didn't play particularly well. My scoring surprised me.

"Hopefully, my ball striking will get better as the week goes on."

Dodd, the 1989 British Amateur champion, secured his share of the lead with a sublime round including four birdies and an eagle.

"At the South African Open I made loads and loads of birdies but quite a few mistakes as well," said Dodd, who finished 66th in last week's tournament.

"Today (on Thursday) I made the birdies and didn't make the mistakes. I just went out, played and tried my best."

World number five Els was unhappy with his start despite a four under par 68.

Els said: "I'm not overly pleased with my round. The course is there for good scoring and I felt I wanted to at least get to six-under par on the first day. I played okay, but I missed a lot of birdie chances.

"I want to win a tournament this year, any tournament. My goal is to win anything this year but I would particularly like to play well in the World Golf Championship events. I haven't done too well in those in the past."

Former Blackburn star Roy Wegerle was given his first taste of golf's fickle nature as he started well with a birdie at the par-four first, but then carded a 76 on his professional golf debut.

"I was nervous out there, but that's natural," Wegerle said. "I played nicely, but I made a few silly mistakes. For instance, I was able to reach all of the par-fives in two, but couldn't take advantage of that."

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