Combrinck Smit continued his surge up the leaderboard as he shot three-under 69 in the weather-affected round two of the Eye of Africa PGA Championship to take a two-shot lead into Saturday.
With Friday’s tee times moved to accommodate those players who did not finish the first round, which was also called off due to dangerous weather on Thursday, most players would have felt the delay would affect their momentum.
It was not the case for Smit, who opened his round with a par.
While it was not as polished a performance as Thursday’s, Smit made five birdies on Friday but two of those were cancelled by the shots he dropped on the 3rd and 10th holes.
‘I am not sad shooting 69 today, I am actually chuffed,’ said Smit. ‘I knew it’s always tough to follow up a round like that. You are not really going to duplicate it again, so I just thought I should give myself chances and then make a few putts here and there.’
His second round showing placed him two shots ahead of the chasing duo of Louis de Jager who shot a flawless 69, and England’s Toby Tree who signed for five-under 67 to share second spot with De Jager.
‘I am ecstatic about both days,’ said Smit alluding to the eight-under 64 he signed for on day one. ‘I mean, yesterday, of course, was lower than today but to follow up a round like that? The course was playing a bit longer, especially when you don’t want to hit driver off the tee box, it catches you a bit.’
Taking advantage of the calm weather conditions after teeing off early in the day was Daniel Greene, shooting five-under 67 to get to eight-under for the tournament. He made five birdies, two bogeys and an eagle in an eventful round to get himself into contention.
In share of sixth place were rookies Martin Rohwer and American Cody Martin who share that spot with Breyten Meyer and Peter Karmis. Karmis, though, still has nine holes to play and on seven-under for the tournament, he has every opportunity to climb up that leaderboard.
Anthony Michael and Chilean Antonio Costa make up the top 10 so far, but things are likely to change when the round resumes at 07:00 on Saturday.
Photo: Sunshine Tour
