European TourBrian KeoghNedbank Golf Challenge, Shane Lowry, Bernd Wiesberger, Padraig Harrington, Paul Dunne

Harrington's Sun City swing tip: "What I like to do is humming"

European TourBrian KeoghNedbank Golf Challenge, Shane Lowry, Bernd Wiesberger, Padraig Harrington, Paul Dunne
Harrington's Sun City swing tip: "What I like to do is humming"
"What I like to do it humming" — Pádraig Harrington

"What I like to do it humming" — Pádraig Harrington

What's your favourite humming noise? 

No, it's not a Father Ted quiz but the latest from a series of European Tour promotional videos —#BadCoaching — featuring stars giving amateurs ridiculous coaching advice.

Pádraig Harrington, who once said he gave serious consideration to his tongue position in the golf swing, tells his pro-am partners, "What I like to do is humming."

He then emits an odd grunting noise demonstrating the importance of the hum/grunt at impact.

It's hilarious. But the light-hearte pro-am antics didn't help in the first round of the $7.5m Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player, where Shane Lowry battled back from a shaky start to open with a level par 72 and trail Austria's Bernd Wiesberger by five shots.

Like Harrington and Paul Dunne, who were forced to work hard for two-over 74s in swirling winds and sweltering heat, Lowry was in trouble early on but fought back well to keep his victory hopes alive.

The Clara man birdied all four par-fives, including his opening hole, and while he was two over par after four following a double-bogey six at the 11th and another dropped shot at the 13th, he took advantage of his chances on the greens.

With club selection made difficult by the altitude, a capricious breeze and some tight pins, he made two more bogeys at his eighth and 15th holes in the penultimate Rolex Series event of the season.

But there were also four more birdies —at his fifth, 11th, 14th and 18th— and he finished the day ranked fourth for putting and tied for 32nd on the leaderboard on level par.

Seeking his second win of the season, Wiesberger (32) made eight birdies in an impressive 67 to lead by a stroke from home favourite, Branden Grace, Frenchman Victor Dubuisson, Scotland's Scott Jamieson and American Julian Suri on five-under-par.

“It's a golf course that challenges you from the first to the last, and you've got to be careful," Wiesberger said after a stunning approach helped birdie the 18th and come home in 31.

"The ball flies a long way, so that's a factor as well. And today we managed to get it all together. Finally, I made a lot more birdies than I have the last couple weeks."

Defending champion Alex Noren, South African Charl Schwartzel, England's Graeme Storm and Japan's Hideto Tanihara share sixth place on three-under after 69s.

But while a win for Tommy Fleetwood would wrap up the Race to Dubai title, the long-haired Englishman struggled to a 73 and lies six shots off the lead.

It was even more of a battle for Harrington and Dunne, who are tied 46th in the 72-man field taking 74 to get around the punishing, 7,831-yard Gary Player creation.

Harrington played with Schwartzel and former Sun City winner Lee Westwood, who shot 70. But after rolling in an 18 footer for an opening birdie, he bogeyed the second and third, and double-bogeyed the sixth before playing his last ten holes in one-under.

Greystones' Dunne, ranked 14th in the Race to Dubai and seeking a win that would catapult him into the world's top 50, was on the back foot after starting with three straight bogeys.

Birdies at the 10th and 15th got him back to one-over par, but he had little luck on the greens and bogeyed the short 16th.

Nedbank Golf Challenge, Gary Player Country Club, Sun City (Par 72)

Detailed scores

67 B Wiesberger (Aut); 

68 S Jamieson (Sco); J Suri (USA); B Grace (RSA); V Dubuisson (Fra); 

69 C Schwartzel (RSA); G Storm (Eng); H Tanihara (Jpn); A Noren (Swe); 

70 P Waring (Eng); M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra); R Fisher (Eng); M Fitzpatrick (Eng); N Elvira (Esp); L Bjerregaard (Den); C Shinkwin (Eng); L Haotong (Chn); L Slattery (Eng); F Zanotti (Par); L Westwood (Eng); P Uihlein (USA); 

71 R Fox (Nzl); A Björk (Swe); D Fichardt (RSA); J Campillo (Esp); L Oosthuizen (RSA); J Luiten (Ned); T Olesen (Den); T Hatton (Eng); M Warren (Sco); S Kjeldsen (Den);

72 R Cabrera Bello (Esp); A Levy (Fra); C Wood (Eng); R Paratore (Ita); S Lowry (Irl); D Drysdale (Sco); M Pavon (Fra); 

73 J Wang (Kor); H Porteous (RSA); T Fleetwood (Eng); F Molinari (Ita); D Horsey (Eng); M Kaymer (Ger); R Ramsay (Sco); 

74 R Sterne (RSA); D Lipsky (USA); S Brazel (Aus); P Harrington (Irl); S Gallacher (Sco); E Pepperell (Eng); B Hebert (Fra); P Dunne (Irl); A Romero (Arg); A Otaegui (Esp); I Poulter (Eng); K Aphibarnrat (Tha); 

75 G Bourdy (Fra); D Frittelli (RSA); M Wallace (Eng); 

76 P Larrazábal (Esp); N Colsaerts (Bel); B Stone (RSA); R Wattel (Fra); E Molinari (Ita); J Smith (Eng); 77 D Burmester (RSA); G Coetzee (RSA); 

78 A Dodt (Aus); 

79 A Sullivan (Eng); T Bjørn (Den); 

80 S Hend (Aus).