DAVID DRYSDALE JUST OUTSIDE TOP TEN AT HALFWAY IN JOBURG OPEN

REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

By MICHAEL GIBBONS

Trevor Fisher junior posted a superb round of 62 on the second day of the Joburg Open to share the lead with his compatriot Richard Sterne at the midway stage of the €1.3million event.

The South African’s nine under par round  - "I was patient ... I walked slowly and did everything slowly" - was just one shot outside Charl Schwartzel’s West Course record at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, and moved him to 15 under par after an impressive opening effort of 66 on the more challenging East Course.

Fisher’s day got off to the perfect start with an eagle on the par five second  hole, and seven birdies followed – with three of them coming in succession from the 15th hole – in a flawless display in Johannesburg, South African’s largest city by population.

The seven-time Sunshine Tour champion: “The last three or four years have been good for me on the Sunshine Tour, but I need to get to the next level now. It’s been good for me in terms of the stepping stones I’ve taken in the last ten years. But I’ve stepped on a lot of stones, so I need to get to the top now.

“I think it’s a case of maturity. I’m a late bloomer unfortunately – I’ve played better as I’ve got older. Last year was good for me. I finished fourth on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, which was my best performance. I’ve given myself chances before this, but I’m not putting any pressure on myself.”

In-form Sterne, second in Dubai last week, is yet to drop a shot, having added a flawless 65 to his opening round of 63 to join Fisher Junior on 15 under par. 

He said: “I did the right things and putted well. It’s nice to not be behind going into the weekend. But it won’t be easy over the weekend. The players that are five or six back can catch us, so it’s a long way from over.”

Both players, whose 36-hole total is the lowest in the history of the Joburg Open, currently lead by three shots from George Coetzee, while another South African, Schwartzel, is in a group five strokes off the pace.

Coetzee’s quest for a debut European Tour victory has included 21 top ten finishes, but he is in contention to break his duck after signing for a round of 64 on the East Course.

Two-time Joburg Open Champion Schwartzel also moved firmly into contention with a six under par round of 65 on the West Course. The World Number 18 is playing his first tournament of 2013, having signed off 2012 with back-to-back victories by a combined margin of 23 shots.

“I’ve had five and a half weeks' nothing, then I started practising a bit,” Schwartzel said of his seven-week absence. “My ball striking is good enough, I’m not putting as well as I was. Those short putts are the ones you have to make to win tournaments.”

  SCOTSWATCH

David Drysdale has strung two good rounds together - 68 and 67 - for a nine-under-par tally of 135 but so high is the standard of scoring that does not even get him into the top 10 at halfway.

But joint 11th is a good platform for a surge over the weekend rounds for the Scot.

Players had to shoot five-under-par 139 or better to make sure of surviving the cut

Only three Scots in all made it - Drysdale, George Murray and Scott Henry. Murray had a splendid second-round 66 for 137 while Henry

went through on 139 with rounds of 69 and 70.

Marc Warren was on four-under 140 but failed by one shot to beat the cut. 

Craig Lee shot a 68 for three-under 141 - another non-qualifier.

Calum Macaulay missed the cut despite a two-under 142 tally while Peter Whiteford, also under par on 143, was another Scot who will be idle this weekend.

    

SECOND-ROUND SCOREBOARD

Par 144 (2x72)

128 - Trevor Fisher junior 66 62, Richard Sterne 63 65

131 - George Coetzee 67 64

133 - Charl Schwartzel 68 65, Keith Horne 67 66, Felipe Aguilar (CHL) 67 66

134 - Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) 68 66, Peter Uihlein (USA) 65 69, Jaco Van Zyl 66 68, Jose Manuel Lara (ESP) 69 65

135 - MJ Daffue 65 70, Maximilian Kieffer (GER) 63 72, David Drysdale (SCO) 68 67, Ricardo Santos (POR) 70 65, Richard Finch (ENG) 67 68, Bryce Easton 65 70, Dean Burmester 67 68, Lorenzo Gagli (ITA) 67 68, Tyrone Mordt 65 70

136 - Tjaart van der Walt 67 69, Darren Fichardt 67 69, Ricardo Gonzalez (ARG) 70 66, Oliver Fisher (ENG) 68 68, Tyrone Ferreira 66 70, Oliver Bekker 68 68, James Kingston 66 70, Bjorn Akesson (SWE) 69 67, Joakim Lagergren (SWE) 65 71

137 - Merrick Bremner 68 69, Tom Lewis (ENG) 72 65, Jacques Blaauw 70 67, Thomas Aiken 67 70, Ockie Strydom 66 71, Ryan Cairns (ZIM) 67 70, Espen Kofstad (NOR) 66 71, James Kamte 70 67, George Murray (SCO) 71 66, Hennie Otto 70 67, Jake Redman 66 71, Joshua Cunliffe 67 70

138 - Brandon Pieters 69 69, Gary Boyd (ENG) 67 71, Garth Mulroy 70 68, Lasse Jensen(DEN) 68 70, Andy Sullivan (ENG) 68 70, Justin Walters 71 67, Graeme Storm (ENG) 76 62, Danie van Tonder 68 70, Alessandro Tadini (ITA) 67 71, Paul Waring (ENG) 71 67, Adilson Da Silva (BRA) 66 72, Jbe' Kruger 68 70, Steve Webster (ENG) 71 67, David Horsey (ENG) 66 72

139 - Scott Henry (SCO) 69 70, Gregory Havret (FRA) 70 69, Phillip Price (WAL) 68 71, Alexandre Kaleka (FRA) 66 73, Jaco Ahlers 71 68, Justin Harding 69 70, Bradford Vaughan 69 70, Allan Versfeld 66 73, Peter Hedblom (SWE) 72 67, Gary Lockerbie (ENG) 70 69, Lee Slattery (ENG) 67 72, Ulrich van den Berg 71 68, PH McIntyre 72 67, Michael Hollick 70 69, Robert-Jan Derksen (NED) 69 70

MISSED THE CUT

140 - Emiliano Grillo (ARG) 71 69, Anthony Snobeck (FRA) 68 72, Marc Warren (SCO) 71 69, Titch Moore 69 71, Ignacio Garrido (ESP) 67 73, Doug McGuigan 73 67, Jorge Campillo (ESP) 69 71, Chris Swanepoel 72 68, Mikko Korhonen (FIN) 69 71, Alexander Levy (FRA) 69 71, Ross McGowan (ENG) 67 73, Gareth Maybin (NIR) 74 66, Matthew Zions (AUS) 69 71, Tyrone van Aswegen 69 71, John Parry (ENG) 69 71, Gregory Bourdy (FRA) 70 70, Christiaan Basson 68 72, Niclas Fasth (SWE) 67 73, Simon Wakefield (ENG) 70 70, Mikael Lundberg(SWE) 69 71, Derik Ferreira 71 69, Attie Schwartzel 68 72, Hendrik Buhrmann 70 70, Ross Wellington 71 69

141 - Daniel Brooks (ENG) 74 67, Ryan Tipping 72 69, James Morrison (ENG) 74 67, Shaun Norris 71 70, Craig Lee (SCO) 73 68, Matthew Southgate (ENG) 70 71, Louis de Jager 71 70, Damien McGrane (IRL) 66 75, Lyle Rowe 69 72, Neil Schietekat 71 70, Brooks Koepka (USA) 71 70, Joel Sjoholm (SWE) 70 71, Jean Hugo 69 72

142 - Matthew Nixon (ENG) 70 72, Vaughn Groenewald 73 69, Jamie Elson (ENG) 68 74, Matthew Carvell 69 73, Branden Grace 72 70, Charl Coetzee 71 71, Seve Benson (ENG) 69 73, Desvonde Botes 71 71, Chris Paisley (ENG) 74 68, Phillip Archer (ENG) 72 70, Alex Haindl 70 72, Michiel Bothma 72 70, Keenan Davidse 75 67, Callum Macaulay (SCO) 70 72, Anthony Michael 72 70, JB Hansen (DEN) 69 73

143 - Teboho Sefatsa 70 73, Wallie Coetsee 69 74, Danny Willett (ENG) 70 73, Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR) 72 71, Colin Nel 72 71, Peter Whiteford (SCO) 72 71, Andreas Harto (DEN) 70 73, Dawie Van der Walt 74 69, Alan McLean (SCO) 74 69, Jared Harvey 71 72, Kristoffer Broberg (SWE) 71 72, JJ Senekal 72 71, Thabo Maseko 69 74, Ruan de Smidt 71 72, Peter Karmis 69 74, Divan van den Heever 69 74, Andrew Marshall (ENG) 73 70, Sam Little (ENG) 72 71

144 - Divan Gerber 71 73, Mark Foster (ENG) 69 75, Soren Kjeldsen (DEN) 73 71, Mark Tullo (CHI) 70 74, Johan du Buisson 72 72, S S P Chowrasia (IND) 71 73, Andrew Georgiou 71 73, Chris Lloyd (ENG) 75 69, Carlos Del Moral (ESP) 75 69, Eddie Pepperell (ENG) 74 70, Scott Arnold (AUS) 71 73, David Higgins (IRL) 71 73, Christopher Doak (SCO) 73 71, Matteo Delpodio (ITA) 73 71, Christian Cevaer (FRA) 71 73

145 - Derick Petersen 70 75, Eduardo de la Riva (ESP) 76 69, Morne Buys 75 70, Gary Stal (FRA) 74 71, Dean O'Riley 74 71, Markus Brier (AUT) 73 72, Neil Cheetham (ENG) 71 74, Martin Wiegele (AUT) 73 72, Andrew Curlewis 70 75

146 - Morten Orum Madsen (DEN) 74 72, Warren Abery 74 72, Jonathan Raphunga 76 70, Robert Rock (ENG) 71 75, Albert Pistorius 73 73, Jake Roos 73 73, David Hewan 74 72

147 - Alastair Forsyth (SCO) 77 70, Moritz Lampert (GER) 73 74, Rhys Davies (WAL) 71 76, Francesco Laporta (ITA) 72 75, Brandon Detweiler (USA) 78 69, Andrew Dodt (AUS) 72 75, Rikard Karlberg (SWE) 76 71, Michael Gligic (CAN) 72 75, Peter Erofejeff (FIN) 74 73

148 - Musiwalo Nethunzwi 74 74, Michael Jonzon (SWE) 75 73, Sipho Bujela 72 76, Heinrich Bruiners 76 72, Johan de Beer 70 78, Thabang Simon 72 76, Mark Murless 76 72, Matthew Baldwin (ENG) 72 76, Chris Gane (ENG) 76 72

149 - Riekus Nortje 78 71, Daniel Greene 74 75

150 - Estanislao Goya (ARG) 77 73, Grant Muller 75 75, Daniel Gaunt (AUS) 74 76, Jean-Paul Strydom 75 75, Richard McEvoy (ENG) 80 70, Maarten Lafeber (NED) 75 75

152 - Omar Sandys 70 82, Mark Williams 77 75, Theunis Spangenberg 74 78, Wayne Westner 77 75, James Busby (ENG) 72 80

153 - Steven Ferreira 77 76, Ryan Strauss 74 79

154 - Yubin Jung 76 78, Guillaume Cambis (FRA) 70 84, JG Claassen 75 79

156 - Makgetha Mazibuko 77 79

157 - Nick Dougherty (ENG) 79 78

164 - Oscar Floren (SWE) 81 83