David Drysdale halfway

leader in Joburg Open

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
(with additional words by Colin Farquharson)
Dunbar's David Drysdale, pictured right, followed up his opening day 65 by carding a five under round of 66 to lead a rain-affected Joburg Open by one stroke at the halfway stage.
The Scots has been incredibly consistent through his first two days at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club with not a single dropped shot on his card as his score of 131 kept him a stroke ahead of South African Oliver Bekker and Michael Hoey from Northern Ireland.
Another home favourite, Andrew McLardy, also managed to stay amongst the chasing pack with his three under 68 moving him to nine under overall, alongside Englishman Danny Willet, who carded a 66, while Richard McEvoy, Tyrone van Aswegen and Rafael Cabrera Bello are all eight under par.
But it was Drysdale who impressed most, carding four of his five birdies on a front nine of 32 in this co-sanctioned European Tour and Sunshine Tour event, to go with his birdie-eagle finish on the first day.
The 33 year old said: “I’m very pleased, especially after playing well yesterday (Thursday) with a good eagle finish which was nice and just kept it going, so overall, I'm very happy.
“I played well all day and had good chances on the front nine and then chipped in with an eagle at the end on the back nine, it was just a little bit of justice really I think to finish. But so far, so good.”
Hoey, who began the competition with a 64 after missing the cut last year, was one of the players affected by an almost 2hr rain delay during the early afternoon.
“It was just perfect at the end there,” reflected the Ballymoney-born golfer on the break. “There was no wind, which was probably an advantage because it was quite hot earlier on. The weather was perfect.”
After his 65, Bekker added: “I didn’t have a good finish at the end of last year, so I’m just trying to manage myself better on the golf course by cutting out the bogeys, maybe not playing as aggressively and try a little more conservative shots and playing within myself.”
Defending champion Richard Sterne, who is also bidding for a third consecutive European Tour title, bounced back from his opening day 71 with a fine round of 66 – five under overall.
He said: “I got off to a slow start this morning, but then birdied five and six, which put me in a better frame of mind. I knew I just had to stay patient because there are a lot of birdies out there.
“Anytime that you’re within seven or eight on the weekend, you’re in with a chance.”
Two other Scots apart from David Drysdale survived the cut at two-under-par 140.
Canada-based Glasgow-born Alan McLean had a hole in one at the 13th on his way to a 65 for joint 13th place on 136.
The other was last year's Tartan Tour kingpin and PGA play-offs winner, Chris Doak with scores of 70 and 68.
Steven O'Hara (68 for 141) missed out by one shot; Richie Ramsay (74 for 142) by two and Andrew McArthur (70 for 143) and Callum Macaulay (69 for 143) by three. It was Macaulay's first missed cut on the European Tour.
Peter Whiteford had a 76 for 146.l
Retief Goosen, the 2001 and 2004 U.S. Open champion, eagled the 15th hole as his score peaked on six-under-par, but he then double-bogeyed the last hole on the West Course to drop back to four-under overall.
Joint overnight leader Trevor Fisher junior failed to beat the cut, going rapidly down the leaderboard as five bogeys and a double-bogey spoiled his card on the East Course. He finished a sad day with a 79 - 16 shots more than he required on Thursday.
The other joint leader, Sweden's Steven Jeppesen, also fell from grace, starting with a double-bogey and then adding a further five bogeys. He did stop the rot in time to qualify with a 76 for 139.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2 x 71)
131 David Drysdale 65 66
132 Oliver Bekker (Rsa) 67 65, Michael Hoey 64 68
133 Danny Willett 67 66, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 65 68
134 Richard McEvoy 69 65, Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa) 69 65, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 65 69
135 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 69 66, Jan Are Larsen (Nor) 66 69, Charl Coetzee (Rsa) 68 67, James Morrison 67 68
136 Antti Ahokas (Fin) 72 64, Alan McLean 71 65, Wallie Coetsee (Rsa) 72 64, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (Spa) 65 71, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 72 64, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 72 64, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 65, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 65 71
137 Brett Liddle (Rsa) 67 70, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 69 68, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 71 66, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 67 70, Simon Griffiths 73 64, Tc Charamba (Zim) 70 67, Gary Lockerbie 69 68, David Dixon 68 69, Taco Remkes (Ned) 67 70, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 70 67, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 71 66
138 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 69 69, Graham De laet (Can) 72 66, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 69 69, Gregory Molteni (Ita) 73 65, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 73 65, Dion Fourie (Rsa) 68 70, Cameron Johnston (Rsa) 72 66, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 69 69, Jake Roos (Rsa) 69 69, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 66 72, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 68 70, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 67 71, Keith Horne (Rsa) 68 70, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 68, James Kamte (Rsa) 69 69, Chris Doak 68 70, Martin Maritz (Rsa) 66 72
139 David Carter 67 72, John Mellor 72 67, Anders Hansen (Den) 71 68, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 63 76, John E Morgan 69 70, Andre Bossert (Swi) 70 69, Kevin Stone (Rsa) 69 70, Michael Curtis (Zim) 74 65, Brandon Pieters (Rsa) 68 71, Chris Wood 69 70, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 74 65, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 68 71, Jean Hugo (Rsa) 67 72, Estanislao Goya (Arg) 70 69, Gary Clark 72 67, Phillip Archer 69 70
140 Chris Gane 70 70, Neil Cheetham 73 67, James Kingston (Rsa) 71 69, Doug McGuigan 69 71, Iain Pyman 71 69, Tyrone Ferreira (Rsa) 68 72, Sam Little 72 68, Michele Reale (Ita) 66 74, Martin Wiegele (Aut) 68 72, Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa) 70 70, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 67 73, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 67 73, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 68 72, Bobby Lincoln (Rsa) 68 72, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 69 71, Michiel Bothma (Rsa) 70 70, Kasper L Jorgensen (Den) 68 72, Carl Suneson (Spa) 67 73, Edrich Jansen (Rsa) 70 70
MISSED THE CUT
141 Steve Lewton 69 72, Garth Mulroy (Rsa) 68 73, Andrew Wilson (Rsa) 69 72, Divan Van Den Heever (Rsa) 68 73, Johan Etsebeth (Rsa) 72 69, Steven O'Hara 73 68, Ross Wellington (Rsa) 74 67, Johan De Buisson (Rsa) 73 68, Warren Abery (Rsa) 70 71, Deane Pappas (Rsa) 69 72, Prinavin Nelson (Rsa) 69 72, Tyrone Mordt (Rsa) 70 71, Andrew Curlewis (Rsa) 69 72, Stuart Manley 73 68, Dawie Van der Walt (Rsa) 71 70, Omar Sandys (Rsa) 67 74, Mark F Haastrup (Den) 70 71, Callie Swart (Rsa) 68 73, Justin Walters (Rsa) 67 74, Ryan Tipping (Rsa) 73 68
142 Merrick Bremner (Rsa) 71 71, Liam Bond 71 71, Wes Heffernan (Can) 69 73, Johan Wahlqvist (Swe) 74 68, David Frost (Rsa) 72 70, Grant Veenstra (Rsa) 69 73, Ockie Strydom (Rsa) 71 71, Wil Besseling (Ned) 72 70, Joel Sjoholm (Swe) 69 73, Mark Murless (Rsa) 73 69, Trevor Fisher Jnr (Rsa) 63 79, Marc Farry (Fra) 73 69, Richie Ramsay 68 74, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 70 72, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 74 68, Inder Van Weerelt (Ned) 73 69, Ruan Botha (Rsa) 70 72, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 70 72
143 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 65 78, Branden Grace (Rsa) 70 73, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 76 67, Nic Henning (Rsa) 69 74, Bradford Vaughan (Rsa) 74 69, Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 70 73, Mohammed Tayob (Rsa) 78 65, Callum Macaulay 74 69, Andrew McArthur 73 70, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 67 76, Ryan Thompson (Rsa) 69 74, Darryn Lloyd (Rsa) 73 70, Reggie Adams (Rsa) 74 69, Stuart Davis 77 66, Anton Haig (Rsa) 72 71, Jaco Ahlers (Rsa) 73 70, Andre Cruse (Rsa) 72 71, Ryan Cairns (Zim) 70 73, Dominique Nouailhac (Fra) 70 73, Grant Muller (Rsa) 70 73, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 73
144 Noel Fox 72 72, Leif Westerberg (Swe) 72 72, Eugene Marugi (Rsa) 74 70, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 72 72, Heinrich Bruiners (Rsa) 74 70, Louis De Jager (Rsa) 74 70, Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 70 74, Peter Kaensche (Nor) 66 78, Federico Colombo (Ita) 69 75, David Hewan (Rsa) 69 75, Richard Bland 73 71, Steve Basson (Rsa) 71 73, Garry Houston 71 73, Christiaan Basson (Rsa) 70 74, Nico Van Rensburg (Rsa) 71 73, Chris Williams (Rsa) 69 75, Ariel Canete (Arg) 68 76, Steve Van Vuuren (Rsa) 75 69, Lindani Ndwandwe (Rsa) 70 74
145 Jacques Blaauw (Rsa) 71 74, Desvonde Botes (Rsa) 69 76, Michael McGeady 71 74, Adilson Da Silva (Bra) 68 77, Morne Buys (Rsa) 71 74, Bradley Davison (Rsa) 73 72, Rolf Muntz (Ned) 72 73, Sam Walker 72 73, Marcus Higley 71 74, Roland Steiner (Aut) 73 72, James Ruth 67 78, Neil Schietekat (Rsa) 77 68, Vaughn Groenewald (Rsa) 69 76
146 Dean Lambert (Rsa) 78 68, Louis Moolman (Rsa) 74 72, Peter Whiteford 70 76, Anders Schmidt Hansen (Den) 68 78, Keenan Davidse (Rsa) 72 74, Lars Brovold (Nor) 76 70
147 Jonathan Caldwell 72 75, Titch Moore (Rsa) 76 71, Alex Haindl (Rsa) 71 76, Dale Marmion 71 76, Henk Alberts (Rsa) 69 78, Riaan De Bruyn (Rsa) 75 72, Simon Wakefield 78 69
148 Sion Bebb 72 76, Ben Evans 76 72, Josh Cunliffe (Rsa) 74 74, Pg Van Zyl (Rsa) 76 72, Teboho Sefatsa (Rsa) 74 74, Van Phillips 74 74
149 Andrew Butterfield 74 75, Javier Colomo (Spa) 76 73, Derik Ferreira (Rsa) 75 74, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 72 77
150 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 69 81, David Griffiths 79 71, Jonathan Lomas 75 75
152 Thabang Simon (Rsa) 72 80, Des Terblanche (Rsa) 77 75
153 Anthony Grenier (Fra) 72 81, Ake Nilsson (Rsa) 80 73
154 Alphuis Kelapile (Rsa) 75 79
156 Andre Ferreira (Rsa) 76 80, Emmanuel Masoliedze (Rsa) 80 76
158 John Bele (Rsa) 84 74
168 Musolo Nethunzwi (Rsa) 82 86