Branden Grace is taking his time, staying calm and keeping things simple; and it’s working as he stormed into the lead at the halfway mark of the Volvo Golf Champions at the Fancourt Links on Friday.

Grace fired a superb seven-under-par 66 on Friday to take a four-shot lead over England’s Lee Slattery and South African Thomas Aiken into the weekend, continuing his wonderful form after claiming the Joburg Open title last weekend.

“It’s been good, an amazing start to the year. I just feel really calm, which is a big relief and it’s nice to keep the nerves down. It’s great to be able to just go out there and play golf.

“I’ve changed my routines a bit: I used to be a very quick player, but I’m taking my time now, sticking to what I’ve decided to hit and keeping things as simple as possible. I’m just sticking to my game plan and minding my own business,” Grace said on Friday.

The 23-year-old lives in George and is therefore extremely familiar with the Fancourt Links, but Grace said he likes to keep the course for special occasions, like when he really wants to give his game a stern test.

“I only played here three or four times last year because it can hit your self-esteem! Mostly I come here just before I go to Europe and if I shoot under par then I know I’m ready to go. I play off the furthest tees and fire for the pins where they are really tucked away,” Grace explained.

“Today I hit the ball unbelievably well and in the right spots. On this course, you really need to drive well and, even though I missed a lot of fairways, they were just off and my iron-play was superb.

“Mentally I feel good and although the body has a few aches and pains, the physios are keeping me running. I’m just running with the momentum,” Grace said.

It looks increasingly as if Grace’s Joburg Open triumph was indeed a breakthrough win and the Race to Dubai leader is starting to fulfil his undoubted potential.

Branden Grace attributed his success to having a feeling of calm on the course as he fired a seven-under-par 66 to storm into the lead after the second round of the Volvo Golf Champions at the Fancourt Links on Friday.

Grace reached the halfway stage on 12-under-par overall, four strokes ahead of Briton Lee Slattery and South African Thomas Aiken. The 23-year-old won the Joburg Open last week and is currently leading the Race to Dubai.

“I have a real calm out there which is a big relief. It’s great to keep the nerves down and just go out there and play golf. I’ve changed my routines a bit, I’m taking my time, sticking to what club I’m going to hit and keeping things as simple as possible. I’m just sticking to my game plan and minding my own business,” Grace told a news conference after his round.

Slattery produced the round of the day – an eight-under-par 65 – to join Aiken in a tie for second on eight-under, with Europe Ryder Cup captain Jose-Maria Olazabal alone in fourth-place on seven-under-par.

Nicolas Colsaerts, Louis Oosthuizen, Raphael Jacquelin, Hennie Otto, Paul Lawrie, Alexander Noren and Retief Goosen have all completed two rounds in 140 strokes, six-under-par.

Overnight leader Colsaerts, who shot a course-record 64 in the first round, came undone on the front nine, reaching the turn in four-over-par 40, but the Belgian got three birdies on the back nine to compensate for two more bogeys.

The 33-year-old Slattery birdied the first two holes to give himself the ideal start and then claimed three successive birdies from the fifth hole to maintain the momentum. The Englishman drained a 25-foot downhill birdie putt on the par-four 10th hole to make up for a bogey on the par-five ninth, and then collected four more birdies on the back nine, while dropping just the single shot, on the par-three 11th.

“It was just one of them rounds I’m going to remember for the rest of my life and hopefully it can kickstart something for me. I think it’s probably the best round of my career, with it being such a big event, with so many great players and playing with Retief Goosen,” Slattery said.

“I decided to play the course a bit more aggressively and hit a lot more drivers off the tees. I putted well and just took on a few more shots out there.”

Only winners of European Tour events in the previous year, plus active golfers who are under the age of 50 and have at least 10 career wins, are invited to the two million euro event, which pays out 350,000 euro to the winner.

Jose-Maria Olazabal enjoyed the milder weather at Fancourt on Friday as he fired a five-under-par 68 to move into contention after the second round of the Volvo Golf Champions at the Links.

Olazabal moved to seven-under overall, five shots off the scorching pace set by Branden Grace, who was on 12-under with two holes to play.

“Today was a little better, the last two days have been very hot and humid and I struggled a bit. There was a bit more wind today, but overall the conditions were pretty benign,” a happy Olazabal said after his round.

The Spaniard made the elite 35-man field thanks to his 22 career wins on the European Tour, but a bad recent run has seen him slip to number 596 on the world rankings, so Friday’s round provided a welcome return to form.

“The bar wasn’t very high to begin with, so improving on my recent form wasn’t difficult! The last couple of years, I’ve been playing very poorly and I need to improve my driving. I hit lovely shots on the range, but it’s harder to take those on to the course. But there are at least some signs on the range that it’s coming right, so that makes it easier,” Olazabal said.

Of course, Olazabal doesn’t just have his own testing times to worry about on the golf course these days – as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain, he also has to study the form of his potential players. The two-time Masters champion said it was important for him to focus on keeping his own play up to scratch as the team captain.

“I made it very clear in September that there is no way I will play in the team, but I would still love to be competitive because then I get to play with my boys and see how they’re doing in this important year,” Olazabal said.

The 45-year-old is playing at Fancourt for the first time and is clearly impressed with the course and estate.

“The practice facilities are fantastic and the whole setting is really beautiful. The set-up of the course is also great and done in a way that you get reward for good shots. And if you miss a shot, you’ll be in trouble, which is fair.

“It’s a great test and we’ve been playing off the forward tees. I can’t imagine how tough it must be off the back tees! But it’s a great course and I would recommend it to anyone,” Olazabal said.

Thomas Aiken shot a fantastic five-under-par 68 in the opening round of the Volvo Golf Champions at Fancourt on Thursday, but was more eager to discuss an issue that should be of importance for all of us proud South Africans.

Aiken appeared at his post-round press conference wearing a “Rhino Revolution” cap and was only too happy to give an explanation.

“I haven’t got a sponsor and I wanted to promote something worthwhile and what could be more worthwhile than saving rhinos? It’s disgusting what’s happening to them, they’re part of the Big Five and it’s a matter of national heritage for all of us, far more important than this golf tournament,” Aiken said.

“I started the Thomas Aiken Rhino Fund and I’ve done my homework about where the money goes. Trevor Jordan of Jordan Properties in Hoedspruit does a fantastic job with Rhino Revolution and I’ve heard people saying about other rhino organisations that you don’t really see where the money goes.”

The Johannesburger pointed out that organisations trying to protect rhinos are struggling to afford the sort of weaponry the poachers are utilising.

“It’s a war and either rhino survive or they go extinct. The poachers get a million dollars a horn so we have a serious financial problem: they have a lot of money and we don’t. We need to fight cleverly – we’re using the money raised for trackers on the ground, roadblocks on the two roads leading out of Hoedspruit and we have help from the air force and their radar station because the poachers are now shooting from helicopters,” Aiken explained.

Rhino Revolution are also hoping to dehorn as many rhino as they can – which Aiken admitted can be controversial.

“We’re trying to dehorn rhino, which is very controversial, but we have fantastic vets doing it and having done over 500 rhino, we haven’t had a single fatality. The horn is like a fingernail, it grows back in about five years and the only problem with dehorning is if one of the rhino gets into a territorial fight with a rhino that still has its horn.”

But Rhino Revolution’s most controversial plan is to legalise the sale of rhino horn and then flood the market to remove the demand.

“We’re trying to legalise the trade and flood the market, so that it brings the price down. We will pump the proceeds back into conservation. At the current rate of poaching, rhino will be extinct in six years, so we have a serious time frame, there’s no time to ‘um and ah’. We’re sticking to our guns and it’s working,” Aiken said.