EUROPEAN TOUR: A second successive 68, which included four birdies in a back-nine of 34, gave South African Omar Sandys a two-stroke lead over England's Lee Slattery at the halfway stage of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek yesterday.
At eight-under-par 136, he leads Slattery, who produced the best round of the day with a flawless 65, by two strokes with six players including the world number five and tournament favourite, Ernie Els, in a share of third place on five-under-par 139.
Stephen Browne continued his good form with a second-round 71 for a halfway total of three-under-par 141. Darren Clarke bounced back from his difficult opening round to shoot a solid three-under-par 69 and move to two under for the competition. However, Peter Lawrie missed the cut despite shooting a second-round 70 for 148.
The only big name to miss out on the weekend action was 2004 winner Charl Schwartzel after a four-over-par 73 added to his 75 from Thursday.
But it was the rather jovial Sandys who claimed the honour of topping the leaderboard.
He said: "It feels good to be here you know. It's all about guts and just trusting yourself." So good was his performance, that Sandys could have had an even better score with an eagle chance coming on the 18th after a brave approach to the green.
He said: "Everyone wanted me to make that putt. On my side, I just wanted to two-putt. Not because of the scores that were following me or where I'm lying on the leaderboard, but for my round, I was planning and I've always been planning to shoot four good rounds in a row."
The day also marked a remarkable turnaround for Slattery, who lost his European Tour card in October by less than €75, before being forced to go back to tour school to regain it.
"I got off to a really slow start at the beginning of last year," he said. "And then started to play well towards the end of the year and by then, I'm not saying it was too late, just you sort of put a lot of pressure on yourself, but last year it just didn't work out for me. So to bounce back at tour school like I did was obviously a big achievement."
The 29-year-old believes he could have done even better than his seven-under-par round of 65. "I'll be honest with you, I left a few chances out there today as well, but it was probably the best I hit the ball for a long time. It was great."
PGA TOUR: The only pair eligible to compete on the Champions Tour got off to a fast start in the opening round of the Merrill Lynch Shootout at the Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida.
Fred Funk and Jeff Sluman carded an eight-under-par 64 in the first round foursomes format and are tied at the top of the leaderboard with Woody Austin and Mark Calcavecchia. Defending champions Jerry Kelly and Rod Pampling are two shots back at six-under-par.
CHALLENGE TOUR: Argentina's Benjamin Chi Alvarado set the clubhouse target with a second-round 66 for a halfway total of 137 in the 102nd Abierto Visa de la República presentado por Peugeot at Buenos Aires Golf Club yesterday.
Ireland's Tim Rice added a second 74 for 146 but Justin Kehoe, after a first-round 76, had a nightmare 86 in the second round and missed the cut on 162.
LET TOUR:Gwladys Nocera carded a level-par 72 in the third round of the EMAAR-MGF Ladies Masters in India and maintained her overnight lead.
But England's Laura Davies and France's Virginie Lagoutte-Clement made a charge up the leaderboard to close in going into the final round today. Nocera began the third round with a five-stroke lead, which was cut to three shots after her compatriot Lagoutte-Clement fired a superb best of the week 66. Nocera finished on six-under-par 210 after 54 holes, with Lagoutte-Clement in outright second on three under.
Rebecca Coakley leads the Irish challenge on six-over-par 222 after a 73 while Hazel Kavanagh is two back on 224 after a 72. Claire Coughlan shot 74 for 230.
