South Africa’s Branden Grace strengthened his lead going into the weekend at the European Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club on Friday with a second-round 66 to move to 16-under.
Grace followed up a stunning 10-under opening round of 62 on Thursday with a six-under 66 that was marred only by a bogey at the short fifth.
Three clear overnight, the 26-year-old’s round, which started on the back nine, featured seven birdies, including a long putt to gain a shot at the ninth, his last hole.
As a result, Grace, who won all four of his European Tour titles to date in 2012, is five shots clear of Italy’s Francesco Molinari, with South Africa’s Tjaart van der Waalt third at 10-under.
“This is a golf course that suits me and if I keep hitting everything in play the way I have been the first two days then it should be a good weekend,” Grace, who hails from Pretoria, told the European Tour’s Web site.
Former Ryder Cup star Molinari moved up the leaderboard with a 65 that included an eagle at the par-five 13th.
“I played really well today,” Molinari said. “I holed some really good putts — the last four or five holes could have been better, but seven-under is always a good round.”
It was a good day for another Italian, with 17-year-old prospect Renato Paratore shooting five birdies in a row on the front nine on the way to a four-under 68 that allowed him to make the cut on three-under after 36 holes.
Further forward, Shaun Norris, Lucas Bjerregaard and England’s Danny Willett, who won last week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge, were all tied for fourth at nine-under.
By contrast, defending champion Charl Schwartzel’s hopes of winning the event for the third year running were not helped by a 70 that left him 11 shots off the lead.
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