Ken Borland

Englishman Ross Fisher has stormed into the lead after the second round of the Tshwane Open at the Els Club Copperleaf with a brilliant seven-under-par 65 in the co-sanctioned event on Friday.

Fisher has represented Europe in the Ryder Cup and been ranked as high as number 17 in the world, but has struggled in recent times with his putting. But the 33-year-old showed on Friday what a quality player he is when all facets of his game click, as it did on the back nine where he picked up four birdies and an eagle.

Ross Fisher - happy with his putter

Fisher is on 13-under-par for the tournament and has a one-stroke lead over SA Open champion Morten Orum Madsen, who also shot a 65. That best score of the day was matched by Spaniard Carlos del Moral, who climbed into a tie for third on 11-under with joint first-round leader Simon Dyson.

South Africa’s Jake Roos also shot a 65 to climb to 10-under alongside compatriots Trevor Fisher Junior, who began the second round sharing the lead with Dyson, and Darren Fichardt, who was once again bogey-free in making 68 on Friday.

Fisher, who has not played in South Africa since the 2007/8 summer, said his strong desire to make the Ryder Cup team again has prompted his return to these shores. The move paid off with a tied-third finish at the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek  and a tied-10^th finish at the Joburg Open earlier this month.

“Having been in the Ryder Cup in 2010, having that experience, and then missing it in 2012, I was gutted. This year’s Ryder Cup team is a massive goal of mine. I feel that my game is better and I really want to make a strong push for the team, that’s why I’m playing more tournaments like these,” Fisher said.

“It’s very difficult for us as foreigners to win here because the South Africans obviously know how to play here. But I’ve felt ready to win for a long time, it’s just piecing all the departments of my game together in one tournament. The long game has been there for a while and my irons, it’s just the putting that has let me down. To see the ball go in today has given me lots of confidence.”

The back nine was the place to go low on Friday – Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey collected seven birdies in a row to move to 10-under – and Madsen was another to excel, although he started his round on the 10^th hole.

“I birdied four of the first five and that’s always a great way to start off your round and put yourself in a good mindset. I had a hiccup on 15 and 16 not making birdie there, but luckily I got one on 17 and I was off and rolling again,” Madsen said.

The highly-promising Dane said he had to police his emotions on the front nine and he managed to remain bogey-free.

“Winning has calmed me down a little bit, just by knowing what to expect. It’s hard to birdie every hole and you’ve got to deal with adversity well, because you’re not going to play perfect golf for 72 holes. Whoever deals with the bad holes and bad shots the best is probably also the guy who’s going to be on top come Sunday. I stayed patient in the beginning of my back nine and made a couple of birdies on six and seven, and then I saved a nice par on nine, so it was a nice way to finish,” the 25-year-old said.

Dyson also started on the back nine and was level-par at the turn, but managed to come home in four-under to remain strongly in contention.

“I was missing a few drives and a few shots into the greens. I managed to correct it coming in and four-under is about right, it keeps the confidence going,” Dyson said.

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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.