Zander Lombard shot a second round four-under-par 68 to sit in fifth place on his own at nine-under-par after the second round of the BMW International Open.
The 21-year-old set out in pursuit of clubhouse leaders Raphael Jacquelin and Henrik Stenson and was rewarded with birdies at the second and third holes. His aggressive style got him into a bit of trouble and he bogeyed the fifth, but putted well for the rest of the nine to make the turn at six-under-par.
It didn’t take Lombard long to get his round back on track with birdies at the 11th and 13th to climb to eight-under-par, one shot ahead of countryman Darren Fichardt. The Pretoria resident did bogey the 14th, but picked the shot back up at the 15th.
After a rollercoaster few holes, Lombard sunk par putts at the next two holes before a morale-boosting birdie arrived at the 18th to allow the two-time European Tour runner-up to sign for his round of 68.
Lombard’s two rounds this week have showed plenty of promise and he will hope this can translate into another good finish on the weekend and banish any nightmares still lingering from his final-day flop at the Lyoness Open.
Along with Fichardt and Lombard, other South Africans that will be present on the weekend include Jaco van Zyl (five-under-par) and Brandon Stone (two-under-par).
Unfortunately the likes of Justin Walters, Ulrich van den Berg, Haydn Porteous, Jean Hugo, George Coetzee, Tjaart van der Walt and Trevor Fisher Jnr will not be around for the weekend as they missed the cut, which fell at one-under-par.
