PAARL, South Africa: Sweden’s Martin Erlandsson shot an eight-under-par 64 to lead the South African Open first round at Pearl Valley Golf Estates on Thursday.

Erlandsson, among the early starters, carded a bogey-free round, which included six birdies and an eagle at the par-five fifth hole.

In-form Spaniard Pablo Martin and South African Dawie van der Walt were one stroke behind Erlandsson after rounds of 65.

Martin won the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek last weekend, the opening event of the 2010 European Tour, and the 23-year-old eagled the fifth and 18th holes as well as making five birdies.

Denmark’s Anders Hansen, the highest-ranked player in the field at world No. 46, lay in fourth place after a round of 66.

The 35-year-old Erlandsson has never won on the European Tour but finished runner-up in the 2009 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.

“My swing was actually a bit off on the range before the round,” Erlandsson said. “So I tried to play very safe to start off, but then I noticed things felt better and better.

“I made some birdies and it made me feel confident, and I just let go on my back nine.” Van der Walt said it was his driving that set up his fine round.

“I basically drove it in the middle of the fairway on nearly every hole,” the 26-year-old Van der Walt. “I think I only missed two fairways and on one of those I holed my second shot.

“You can’t win the tournament on the first day but this puts me in a good position.” Martin was the only player to eagle the tough par-five 18th.

He reached the green in two and holed the putt to add a second eagle to the one he picked up at the fifth.

Bookies take bets on Woods’ divorce

Meanwhile, if Tiger Woods and his Swedish wife get divorced, Elin Nordegren won’t be the only one collecting on the settlement.

British bookmaker William Hill is taking bets on just how much Nordegren will get if she decides to divorce the world’s No. 1 golfer, who is taking an indefinite break from the sport after admitting to cheating on his wife.

As the scandal widens with claims of more and more mistresses, bettors can get 25-1 odds that Nordegren will receive more than half a billion dollars in a divorce settlement. The odds drop to 6-4 for a settlement under $100 million. William Hill is offering only 1-2 odds that she would get between $100 million and $500 million.

“It’s largely a bit of fun,” William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said Thursday.

At odds of 25-1, people who bet $1 and win will get $25 plus the $1 stake back. At 6-4 odds, a $4 bet will get $10 in return.

Adams said the company had been taking bets on whether or not the couple would get divorced at all, but took the market down because it was too one-sided with people betting on divorce. William Hill also had bets on how many women would come forward as alleged mistresses, but Adams said that was too difficult to verify.

None of the bets, though, had been for much money.

“People are putting on small bets, probably so they can have a giggle in the pub and show their mate a betting slip,” Adams said. “It’s not vast sums of money.” Two other British bookmakers, Ladbrokes and Coral, are only taking bets on Woods as a golfer, saying they wanted to stay away from his personal problems.

“We did think about it, but we tend not to go down there,” Coral spokesman Gary Burton said.