Fox fired the lowest round of his European career – a nine-under 63 – to take a two-stroke lead at the Ras Al Khaimah Classic with Hillier matching his countryman’s nine-under total to share top spot with Frenchman Adrian Saddier at the Dimension Data Pro-Am at Fancourt Golf Estate.

Top 30 at the Dubai Desert Classic two weeks ago, Fox missed the cut after struggling with a back injury last week but looked to be showing no ill effects as he carded 10 birdies with a single dropped shot to match the course record at Al Hamra Golf Club.

“It was nice to get in the zone, I just felt like I had control of the golf ball,” said Fox, the 2019 ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner.

“I probably need to throw a couple of thanks out too. I struggled last week here with my back and I have my physio out here, and the Tour physio has helped me out over the weekend and I feel 100 per cent this week which was nice.

“Shaun Norris was nice enough to give me a putting tip on Tuesday when we played a practice round together and that seemed to work pretty well too so big shout-out to those guys.

“I hit it in the greenside trap a couple of times and got up and down. It is the kind of golf course where you feel like you’ve got a lot of opportunities and it was nice to take advantage of those and then hole a couple of longer putts on some of the tougher holes to keep the round going.

“I worked hard on just focusing on every shot. Obviously my body felt a bit better today than last week. I felt like I could do what I wanted to do and I wasn’t fighting it so hopefully I wake up feeling good and I can keep doing what I’m doing.”

Portuguese Ricardo Gouveia is Fox’s nearest challenger at seven-under with West Australian Jason Scrivener one of eight players sharing third after rounds of six-under 66.

Scrivener was bogey-free in his opening round with a run of four birdies in the space of five holes late as he looks to generate some momentum early in the season.

Queenslanders Scott Hend and Maverick Antcliff also made a positive early impression on the leaderboard with rounds of five-under 67 to be in a tie for 12th, Antcliff twice having a run of four straight birdies during round one.

Given his strong start in South Africa Hillier has his eyes on a second Challenge Tour title.

The 23-year-old recorded a round of 64 on the par-73 Links course, while Saddier joined him at the top of the leaderboard after a 63 over the par 72 Outeniqua course.

Hillier, who won his maiden Challenge Tour title at the Challenge Costa Brava in 2021, credited his patient approach for successfully taming the notoriously difficult Links course at Fancourt Golf Estate, the venue for the first of seven co-sanctioned Sunshine Tour events in Africa to begin the Road to Mallorca season.

“It was just one of those days where everything seems to go your way,” he said.

“I definitely got away with a couple in the middle and it was a nice little save on the last but apart from a couple of shots I played really well.

“I hit the ball probably as well as I have done for a while and I made a few good putts along the way.

“You just have to stay patient. There are plenty of chances out there, it’s pretty easy to try and force the issue but I just kept sticking to my process and putting as much intent as I could into every shot.

“The goal is to win this week. I’ve got myself in a good position at the moment and hopefully I can keep going the way I am.”

Newcastle’s Blake Windred made an exceptional start to his round on the Outeniqua with an eagle at his second hole but four bogeys in his even-par 72 to open has him with ground to make up to qualify for the weekend.

The Korn Ferry Tour is in Colombia for the Astara Golf Championship with Rhein Gibson and Ryan Ruffels both inside the top 20 following rounds of four-under 67 on day one, Curtis Luck just one shot further back in a tie for 35th.