Marco Crespi claimed the second round clubhouse lead as the Italian continued to shine in the first event of his rookie European Tour campaign at the South African Open Championship hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni.
The 35 year old, who finished third last week in Girona to come through Qualifying School for the first time in 11 attempts, carded six birdies and a solitary bogey in a second round 67 to reach 12 under for the week at Glendower GC.
He said: “I missed a lot of fairways and a lot of greens today. My long game was not how I like to play. My putting and chipping was pretty amazing.
“I was expecting a good tournament, because I was playing well. Obviously not this big, but I am pretty confident about the weekend. I'll just try to remain calm and play my game my way.
“I just have to catch more fairways, because I really like to play from there. I don't have too much speed through the ball, so I need to stay on the fairway. If I get it right then I can control the distance, spin and direction more.”
Crespi was one ahead of Dane Morten Ørum Madsen in the first event of the 2014 Race to Dubai, with the highlight of Crespi’s round coming with a superb approach from the rough at the 16th to a foot.
Madsen, a runner-up in Madeira during an impressive rookie campaign last year, had seven birdies to join Crespi in front but failed to get up-and down from short of the 17th green for his only bogey of the day as he signed for a 66.
Former Avantha Masters winner Jbe Kruger, looking to regain his full European Tour playing rights having been outside the top 110 on last season’s Race to Dubai, shot a two under par 70 to be third on nine under, one ahead of England’s first round leader Matthew Nixon and his compatriot Tom Lewis.
Former US Open Champion and two-time winner of this event Retief Goosen had been on course to take his place on the leaderboard but double bogeyed the fifth after hitting a poor drive and seeing his second shot finish against a tree.
The double Major winner eventually signed for a 71 to be part of a large group on seven under.
Pre-tournament favourite Charl Schwartzel was among the afternoon starters, and as well as looking to catch the leaders the former Masters Tournament champion was also going to be in pursuit of younger brother Attie, who was also on six under to be two ahead of his older sibling.
