Ken Borland

Charl Schwartzel was the star of the second round at the South African Open on Friday as he closed to within a stroke of leader Andy Sullivan at Glendower Golf Club.

Despite battling a badly bruised toe and still trying to rediscover his perfect swing, Schwartzel was able to make five birdies and an eagle, offsetting four bogeys, as he posted a 69 that took him to seven-under-par for the tournament, in second place behind Sullivan.

The Englishman, the joint leader overnight, went out from the 10^th hole in three-under 33, but would make bogeys at the par-four fifth and seventh holes, before picking up a shot at the par-five eighth to finish with a 70 and eight-under-par overall.

Schwartzel also started on the 10^th and had grafted through his round, playing his first 15 holes in one-over-par. But a spectacular birdie-eagle-birdie finish allowed the South African to make a dramatic surge up the leaderboard.

“I was just missing fairways by a little bit, or when I finally hit a good shot I would three-putt, so nothing was really going for me. But any time you finish like that, it turns your day into a much better one and nobody was more surprised than me!” Schwartzel said after his round.

Schwartzel has not had a top-10 finish on the European Tour since August’s Bridgestone Invitational WGC event and has been battling much-publicised swing problems. But on Friday his biggest wish would have been for carts to be allowed so he wouldn’t have to walk between holes after bashing his toe on some househould furniture in the build-up to the tournament.

“I’m trying to get an old feeling back in my swing and it’s the same with the putter, I’ve spent quite a few hours on the practice green. I’m just trying to remember what I used to do, even going as far back as my junior days, just trying to be more consistent.

“But my toe was worse today. There’s no real pain when I hit the ball, it’s just the walking that is very painful. But I’m not playing in pain otherwise I would withdraw,” Schwartzel said.

While South Africa’s highest-ranked golfer merely had to deal with stabbing pains in his toe, five-time champion and tournament host Ernie Els must have felt like Glendower had kneed him in the groin as he crashed down the leaderboard with a staggering bogey, triple-bogey, triple-bogey sequence from the eighth hole.

But Els has not won 67 professional tournaments and earned the equivalent of nearly a billion rand in prizemoney by being mentally fragile and he fought his way back with successive birdies on 13 and 14, before parring his way in for a 77. The host will nevertheless be around for the weekend and is only eight shots behind Sullivan on level-par for the tournament.

Jbe’ Kruger, who was tied for the lead with Sullivan overnight, had a disastrous day with an 80 and just scraped into the weekend on the cut-mark of two-over.

JJ Senekal was the other golfer to produce a top-class round on Friday, shooting a 67 to climb into a share of third with Denmark’s Lasse Jensen and fellow South African Colin Nel on six-under.

Sullivan, a jovial 28-year-old from Nuneaton, once again brought an aggressive approach to the tight parklands course and, apart from a wobble coming in, it paid off.

“The course was a bit tougher today but I’m happy with my round, I actually probably played a bit better today. The rough is brutal but yesterday I got away with it, while today I was punished a couple of times. But I attacked just as much,” Sullivan said.

Defending champion Charl Schwartzel was less than enthusiastic about his chances at the Alfred Dunhilll Championship starting at Leopard Creek in Malelane today, saying his game was still a long way away from being good enough to win the European Tour event, although he does boast a wonderful record here.

Schwartzel was the winner on the highly-rated course next to Kruger National Park last year by four strokes over Englishman Richard Finch, while he ran away with the title in 2012, beating Sweden’s Kristoffer Broberg by a whopping 12 shots – the third biggest winning margin in European Tour history. He also won the title in 2004 and finished runner-up in 2005, 06, 09 and 10.

But the swing troubles that have afflicted South Africa’s highest-ranked golfer all year were in clear view at Sun City last weekend. It was a hugely frustrating week for Schwartzel as there were glimpses of brilliance as he collected 17 birdies and an eagle over the four rounds, but that was undone by 12 bogeys and four double-bogeys as he finished in a tie for 14^th.

“It’s been the pattern the whole year, I’d get my game going, it would look like I was going to contend, and then one or two bad holes would make me fall back. And then I’d do it all over again, it’s a cycle that’s really frustrating. I’m making enough birdies to win, but mistakes are costing me so much.

“It’s just a swing that’s not repeating itself, it’s not consistent enough and I just have to keep working at it. So although this course has treated me very well over the years, it does something for my game, I think I’m still a long way away and my expectations are not very high,” Schwartzel said yesterday.

So the favourite’s tag should probably go elsewhere and Peter Uihlein, awarded the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year prize in 2013, has indicated his liking for the course, while Louis Oosthuizen, if he can solve his problems with the putter that saw him change grip midway through the Nedbank Golf Challenge, says he has unfinished business with Leopard Creek.

Sun City winner Danny Willett comes to Malelane with enormous confidence after that triumph, while other golfers who deserve some fanfare are Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey, Hennie Otto, Italian star Francesco Molinari and 2008 champion Richard Sterne.

But the South African admitted that he is another local not bringing a great game to Leopard Creek, although Otto is bullish about his chances of getting on to the podium for the second time this year.

Richard Sterne and Trevor Fisher Jnr shared the lead after the second round of the Joburg Open, but European Tour stars George Coetzee and Charl Schwartzel were hard on the chase at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club on Friday.

Fisher, after a brilliant 62 on the West Course, and Sterne, who shot a superb 65 on the tougher East Course, are both on 15-under-par, but the names of Coetzee (-12) and Schwartzel (-10) loom dangerously just below them on the leaderboard.

Sterne held a share of the overnight lead with Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer on eight-under-par and the winner of the 2008 Joburg Open immediately went to nine-under with a birdie on the par-five first hole.

Sterne’s strategy of minimising mistakes obviously paid off as he completed a second bogey-free round and collected three more birdies on the front nine and three coming in, including successive birdies on the last two holes.

“I was quite conservative, you have to be on this course, and my game didn’t feel great but I putted well and had a couple of good up-and-downs,” Sterne said.

Fisher has been a Sunshine Tour competitor since 2002 but has become one of the leading players only recently, finishing fourth and ninth on the order of merit in the last two years and being named as the 2012 Players’ Player of the Year earlier this week.

He looked ready to become a regular European Tour contender on Friday as he roared through the back nine in five-under, including three successive birdies to end his round, having earlier eagled the par-five second hole.

“I’m a late bloomer and I think I’ve matured in the last couple of years, but I need to get to the next level now,” the 33-year-old said.

“I was in a happy place out there, everything just happened for me and I sank the putts I needed to sink. I was patient, walked slow and did everything slow. You’ve got to be in the moment, you can’t think about your score … I think that’s the secret to scoring low around here: not trying to make birdies, but trying to hit good shots,” Fisher said.

Coetzee, who shot a phenomenal 64 on the East Course, was playing in the same three-ball as Sterne and he said he had fed off the success of his fellow Pretorian.

“Richie was getting a birdie every other hole so that made me want birdies too. I made some nice putts early on which gave me momentum and I hit the ball great in the stretch. I was pretty happy with my game, except for my long putts, I left a lot short,” Coetzee said.

Schwartzel, who missed the cut when defending his title last year, is cosily positioned just five shots off the lead heading into the weekend, after shooting a 65 on the West Course.

“There’s still a long way to go and Trevor Fisher is playing fantastic golf, but at least I’m still in range. My ball-striking has been good, where I left off last year. So the big thing is that I’m hitting the ball well and giving myself chances. I just need to make more putts from short range,” Schwartzel said.

Fisher, however, said he was ready to make the step up and win his first European Tour co-sanctioned event, having triumphed seven times on the regular Sunshine Tour.

“I’ve been here for 10 years and it’s been a good stepping stone to the European Tour. But I’ve stepped on a lot of stones now and it’s time to get to the top,” Fisher said.

South African Keith Horne and Chile’s Felipe Aguilar are tied with Schwartzel on 10-under, having both shot 66s on the East Course.

Kieffer could only manage a par-72 on the East Course and slipped down into a tie for 11th.