Trevor Fisher Jnr fired a second round 70 to finish one off the pace set by Frenchman Gregory Havret at the Trophee Hassan II.
Fisher Jnr went one better than his Thursday round and it could’ve been much better had the South African not made a double on 16 and a bogey 4 on 17.
The 37-year-old produced a fine front nine with three birdies and six pars helping him move steadily up the leaderboard. He made three more birdies before his late collapse halted his progress.
‘All in all I just fought, I knew it was going to be a tough day out there so I just fought hard and tried to make pars and then made some birdies and finished three under, which was really good,’ said Fisher Jnr.
‘It’s going to be a nice weekend, it’ll be a good test. If I can try and find some good feelings I’ll have a good chance at the end of the week.
‘I’ll be fighting and we’ll see what happens on Sunday, hopefully I can do something special.’
Dylan Fritteli is the next best South African after 36 holes after he produced a steady 72. After opening with a bogey, Fritteli made three birdies before a bogey on the par 3 14th saw him give back a shot. Fritteli is T7 along with Spain’s Jorge Campillo and France’s Benjamin Hebert.
Jaco van Zyl is level after two rounds following a Friday 75 with Haydn Porteous one shot off Van Zyl’s halfway mark. Porteous was -3 on Friday seven shots better than his opening round as he safely made the cut.
The last South African to make the weekend was Dean Burmester who booked his place for weekend golf by matching Porteous three under on Friday.
South Africans failing to make the cut were Brandon Stone, Richard Sterne, Zander Lombard, Justin Walters, Hennie Otto and Jaco Ahlers.
