Richard Finch’s first thought as his tee-shot headed straight for the cup on the par-three 12th hole on the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington East Course was “Oh no!”

Finch’s hole-in-one helped him into a share of the lead after the second round of the Joburg Open, but his initial feeling was that he had achieved the “perfect fluke” on the wrong day.

“On 12 I looked at the back of the tee and read the board which said there was a million rand available for a hole-in-one in the final round. As my shot landed I turned around and said ‘Oh no!’ because I had hit it on the perfect line,” Finch said.

The ball went slightly downhill before lodging in the hole, so Finch only knew he had sunk his tee shot by the reaction of the spectators around the green.

“Some of [playing partner] Darren Fichardt’s family and friends were at the green and they started cheering, so it was clear it had gone in,” Finch said.

Finch’s six-iron from 188 metres was the highlight of a top-class round of six-under-par 66 on the tough East Course that saw the Englishman soar to 11-under-par overall and a share of the lead with countryman Robert Rock and South Africa’s George Coetzee.

“Starting today at five-under-par was interesting – a few birdies and you’re right up there amongst the lead, but a couple of bogeys and you miss the cut. But I’m delighted with today, I thought some of the pins were really tucked away, so I just tried to be sensible and get it on to the green to give myself a chance. I managed to roll a few in, which was good,” the 34-year-old said.

While there may not be any formal award for Finch’s second-round hole-in-one, his other ace in South Africa did net him a most useful prize.

“I made one at Humewood a few years ago during the SA Open. It was sponsored by South African Airways, so I won a million air miles, which was nice.”

One imagines Finch didn’t protest too much either when he made a hole-in-one at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in 2010 and won a bottle of Blue!

The European Tour regular will be after the big prize in Johannesburg, however, – a third title, a one-year exemption, 22 points for the world rankings and the winner’s cheque of R1.8 million.

Charl Schwartzel was one of the earlier finishers in Friday’s weather-ruined second round of the Joburg Open, but the defending champion now faces an anxious wait to see if he will be exiting the tournament at the halfway stage.

Schwartzel struggled around the East Course for a first-round 72 and then shot a three-under-par 68 on the easier West Course on Friday in what he termed a “mental struggle”.

The Masters champion is therefore on three-under-par overall, in a tie for 56th and on the cut line. But more than half the field still have to complete their second rounds, with a dozen golfers yet to even start when thunderstorms prevented any further play being possible after 1.37pm – ironically exactly the same time as when play was halted on the first day.

Schwartzel does, however, have previous experience of battling around the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club but somehow winning. Last year he was complaining about his swing but still managed to triumph by a whopping four strokes.

“It is a mental struggle when you play like this. It’s pretty easy when things are going your way, but on days like this it becomes a mental battle. I felt I hung in well, I didn’t get down on myself. It would have been easy to lose my temper, but so early in the year, there’s no point. The only way through it is to play, and hopefully I can get into the weekend,” Schwartzel said.

While other major champions have quickly recused themselves from press conferences on days when they have struggled, the ultra-professional Schwartzel was only too happy to front up to the media and explain his struggles. With such impressive character, no wonder he doesn’t buckle under the pressure of being four behind down the closing stretch at Augusta.

The 27-year-old said it was his putting that was proving to be his biggest bugbear.

“It’s always guesswork when you come off a break and competitive golf is always different. But to get straight on to the point, my putting let me down. You’re not going to be doing very well on a course where you should be going for birdies if you have 34 putts. Today I hit 17 greens in regulation but I was just three-under, so it was not my best effort,” Schwartzel said.

The seven-time European Tour winner said it was his putting stroke that was causing him problems.

“In normal competition the greens aren’t so quick as in tournament golf and it feels like I’m hitting everything off-line. I’m not stroking the ball properly and I don’t have that rhythm you get from playing tournament golf week in, week out. And once you hit a few off-line, you start doubting yourself, which makes it worse,” Schwartzel said.

At the moment, Schwartzel is a hefty eight strokes behind leader Robert Rock, but a top-class round like the 61 he shot on Friday last year or the 63 in the first round of the 2010 event will give him a real chance of completing a hat-trick of Joburg Open wins.

“There’s still a long way to go and at least I’m hitting the ball well tee-to-green and giving myself chances. I just need like a 63 to get some momentum going. If I shoot that, I’ll be in with a chance,” Schwartzel said.

England’s Robert Rock is feeling more and more comfortable in South Africa and also with his recent positions at the top of leaderboards around the world.

All of which makes his current position atop the Joburg Open leaderboard – on 11-under-par after a second-round 67 – all the more ominous for the rest of the field in the co-sanctioned European Tour/Sunshine Tour event.

Rock had to complete his last three holes of his weather-interrupted first round from 6.45am and promptly birdied 17 and 18 to complete a marvellous 65 on the tougher East Course. After a short break and some breakfast, the 34-year-old began his second round and almost immediately went into the lead with an eagle on the par-five second hole. Three birdies in a row from the 13th then sealed his position at the top, one shot ahead of South Africans Branden Grace and Jbe’ Kruger.

Rock has been coming to South Africa for the co-sanctioned events for the last eight years and has been steadily improving his results.

“When you start to play the same tournaments at the same venues, you can start planning your shots into the greens because you’re familiar with the putts, you start to remember the lines, and it’s a big help.

“They’re always good courses when you play tournaments in South Africa and that’s what interests me, I prefer that to massive prizefunds,” Rock said.

The Belfry-based golfer has also won more than 2.3 million euro in the last three years, winning the Italian Open last year and then finishing eighth in the lucrative, season-ending Dubai World Championship.

“I played some of my best golf in Dubai to finish eighth in a great field and my game started to turn around last year, especially my iron play. I also started putting well – I can be a bit hit-and-miss with the putting.

“So I hoped I would start this year where I left off last year and it was similar. When I saw I was leading, it did not bother me too much, whereas normally I would be thinking ‘what do I do now?’ But I led basically all the way through in Italy and it feels better to be in that position now,” Rock said.

After a 4.30am wake-up call on Friday, Rock at least knows he’ll be going off at a far more civilised hour when he starts his third round.

“I don’t like those 4.30 alarms, the aim is to play your way out of those. But I guess weather delays are part of the scene this time of the year over here …

“I played really well in the Pro-Am, so I was hopeful. I then had a great round on the harder course to shoot seven-under, but I didn’t play as well today, but managed to get a score.

“My whole game is good – I drove every fairway, bar one; I hit most if not all of the greens and I hit some irons to tap-in length. It’s been a stress-free couple of rounds, what more could I wish for?” Rock said.

Now that he knows how, Rock could go all the way and claim his second European Tour title in seven months.