Ken Borland

Christiaan Basson is one of the more consistent performers on the Sunshine Tour so his blistering eight-under-par 64 to claim the lead in the first round of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek is not a total shock, but the 33-year-old from Cape Town is battling his own mediocre record in co-sanctioned events with the European Tour.

Basson has played in 30 previous European Tour tournaments, making the cut in just 14 of them, with just a single top-10 finish, in the 2013 South African Open at Glendower. He has gone low in the first round a few times in co-sanctioned events, including last year’s Alfred Dunhill Championship when he opened with a pair of 69s before fading on the weekend with rounds of 74 and 75.

“It’s a funny game and you never know when you’re going to get it right, so when you get it going you must capitalise on it. I think I need to stick with the same game plan – I just tried to hit fairways and tried to play for the right areas of the greens – it worked well, so why change it?” Basson said after his brilliant round at the prestigious course alongside the Crocodile River.

Basson is three shots ahead of the chasing pack on five-under-par which includes three-time champion Charl Schwartzel.

Schwartzel could not finish his round due to a thunderstorm that stopped play at 5.26pm on Thursday, but is looking in ominous form as he collected seven birdies through 17 holes, and missed a couple of makeable putts as well.

Mark Williams of Zimbabwe and Englishman Matt Ford, both of whom collected eagles – on the par-four fourth and par-five 13^th holes respectively- are the other golfers tied for second.

Niclas Fasth of Sweden, playing his 500^th European Tour event (the 31^st golfer to reach the mark) and Joost Luiten of the Netherlands are amongst the large group of golfers on four-under-par, while 2008 champion Richard Sterne is on three-under after 17 holes.

Another former champion, Pablo Martin, the winner of back-to-back titles in 2009/10, was rapidly climbing up the leaderboard as he moved to six-under-par through 15 holes. The Spaniard had started on the 10^th, but by the time he walked off the ninth green he was practically weeping as he closed with three successive bogeys to drop down into the group tied for 12^th.

Englishman Jeff Inglis had a similar story, starting with five successive birdies but then dropping two shots at the par-four eighth and picking up further bogeys at the 13^th, 16^th and 17^th holes to also finish on three-under.

Louis Oosthuizen started on the 10^th and birdied the par-four first hole to go to five-under-par and a share of the lead, but was then derailed by a double-bogey seven on the second, eventually finishing on a two-under-par 70, while defending champion Branden Grace was a stroke further back.

Spaniard Adrian Otaegui took advantage of the friendlier conditions available at the start of the second round of the Tshwane Open at Pretoria Country Club on Friday, shooting a superb eight-under-par 62 to claim a two-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the co-sanctioned tournament.

Otaegui was in the first three-ball off at 6.40am and he set the tone for his round with birdies on the par-four second and third holes. Five birdies in a row from the eighth saw him surge up the leaderboard and he then made twos at both of the par-threes on the back nine, before bogeying the last to finish on 11-under for the tournament.

“We were first to tee off this morning and the conditions were perfect. I like playing that early and I did really well. I made a lot of birdies and I’m happy with my round. It was a good round from the beginning.

“The greens were perfect, because we opened the course. They were good yesterday, but when you play first the course is in very good condition and you can take advantage,” Otaegui said after his best round on the European Tour.

South African Merrick Bremner is two shots back at nine-under-par after a typically attacking approach brought him a four-under-par 66. He started his round at the 10^th hole but was level-par for the day after a bogey on the first, but four birdies would come in his last six holes to leave him alone in second place.

While joint overnight leader Morten Orum Madsen would come undone with two double-bogeys in his first four holes and successive bogeys around the turn, leaving him six shots off the pace on five-under, David Horsey kept himself in strong contention.

The Englishman started on the 10^th and put a double-bogey on the fourth behind him as he collected two birdies coming in to finish on eight-under, in a tie for third with South Africans Keith Horne and Trevor Fisher Junior, and Italian Edoardo Molinari.

Sunshine Tour Order of Merit leader Andy Sullivan had an icky round of 71 to miss the cut, while it also all went wrong for Lindani Ndwandwe, who posted a promising 68 in the first round before a run of five successive bogeys from the third hole saw him shoot 79 on Friday and also miss the cut.

The in-form Wallie Coetsee had steadily climbed the leaderboard with four birdies as he stood on the 18^th tee tied with Bremner on nine-under, but then suffered a major blow as his tee-shot found one of the numerous bunkers on a hole that is usually a par-five but is a par-four in this tournament.

The lapse led to a double-bogey which pushed Coetsee back down to seven-under, in a tie for seventh with fellow South Africans Dean Burmester and George Coetzee.

Conditions were definitely trickier on the second day at Pretoria Country Club, with sunny and warm conditions speeding up the greens and a capricious breeze making club selection tricky.

“I found the wind quite tricky. It was really swirling in completely opposite directions and I got a lot of clubs wrong compared to yesterday. You’re trying to make birdies with wedges in your hand and you’re hitting it five or 10 metres short because the wind changes on you. That can get quite frustrating. I think the wind was the biggest factor in why the scores weren’t that low,” Horne said after his 67.

Otaegui, who learnt the game at the same Real Golf Club de San Sebastian as former Ryder Cup captain Jose-Maria Olazabal, who is also his mentor, said Pretoria Country Club suited him.

“I like these type of courses that are old-style and have trees, so that you have to place the ball. You don’t need to hit it far, but rather put it in a place where you can attack the pins. Even if I missed a few tee shots today I hit some good irons and gave myself birdie chances,” the 22-year-old said.

He may be on top of the leaderboard at the moment, but Otaegui is not getting ahead of himself as he eyes his first top-three finish on the European Tour.

“I’m happy, but we still have a lot of way to go. It’s just 50% of the tournament and so many things can happen. I just have to be patient tomorrow. Let’s see if I’ve learnt something from these last two rounds,” he said.

Molinari, a two-time European Tour winner and a former Ryder Cup player, was slow out of the gate as he started on the 10^th, only making his first birdie on the 18^th hole. But he also picked up shots on the first and on his last two holes to put himself amongst the leaders.

A wonderful round of eight-under-par 62 by Spaniard Adrian Otaegui saw him claim a two-stroke lead after the second round of the co-sanctioned Tshwane Open at Pretoria Country Club on Friday.

Otaegui, who grew up in the same northern Spanish seaside resort town of Fuenterrabia as Jose-Maria Olazabal and is mentored by the former Ryder Cup captain, went out in the first three-ball of the day and conquered the parklands course with five successive birdies from the eighth hole.

“We were first to tee off this morning and the conditions were perfect. I like playing that early and I did really well, made a lot of birdies and I’m happy with my round. It was a good round from the beginning, the greens were perfect because we opened the course. They were good yesterday, but when you play first the course is in very good condition and you can take advantage.

“I like these type of courses that are old-style and have trees, so that you have to place the ball. You don’t need to hit it far, but rather put in a place where you can attack the pins. Even if I missed a few tee shots today, I hit some good irons and gave myself birdie chances,” Otaegui said after his best round on the European Tour.

Pretoria Country Club was a tougher prospect on the second day, with a gentle but capricious breeze, and first-round leaders Morten Orum Madsen and David Horsey both slipped down the leaderboard.

Englishman Horsey managed to limit the damage with a one-under-par 69 that leaves him on eight-under, three behind Otaegui and one behind second-placed South African Merrick Bremner, who produced a four-under-par 66 to go to nine-under.

Madsen, from Denmark, knew he was in for a tough day as he double-bogeyed the first and fourth holes. He dropped further shots on the ninth and 10^th, before cruising to three successive birdies, picking up another shot on 17, but then stalling with a bogey on the last to finish with a two-over 72, six shots off the pace.

Bremner motored to the end of his round, which started on the 10^th, with four birdies in his last six holes to reach the halfway stage of the tournament alone in second place, to show that big drivers of the ball can still succeed on the tight course, providing they are accurate.

The best of the afternoon rounds would come from Trevor Fisher Junior, fresh off a breakthrough win in last weekend’s Africa Open. The South African had four successive birdies from the sixth hole to set up a 66 that lifted him to eight-under for the tournament, in a tie for third with Horsey, Keith Horne and Edoardo Molinari.

Trevor Fisher Junior played consistent precision golf as he motored to victory by five shots in the Africa Open at East London Golf Club on Sunday, shooting a superb eight-under-par 64 in the final round.