Hennie Otto finished round two of the Lion of Africa Cape Town Open with a four stroke lead after a four under par 68 at Royal Cape Golf Club.
The two-time European Tour winner, who retained his playing privileges with a strong finish to his season, reached ten under par at the halfway stage to lead Tjaart van der Walt and Omar Sandys by four.
Otto, who has 12 Sunshine Tour titles to his name, used all that experience to his advantage as he went round without dropping a shot – a feat all the other players in the field would have paid dearly for.
“It’s about where you feel comfortable,” said Otto of the fact that he has played Royal Cape so many times before. “Some guys feel comfortable on the golf course and always play well there. They said the wind was going to pick up and it did. There was nearly a four-club wind at one stage.”
He started his round on the tenth, and didn’t make a birdie until he reached the 16th, but then made three in a row and added another at the second for good measure.
Crucially, he had negotiated 13, 14 and 15 without dropping a shot, and those holes were to prove the nemesis of many further down in the pack during a breezy second round.
“It all depends on what happens to the guys behind me,” he added.
“The wind could blow even harder tomorrow and that will be a very good test then. I’m playing well and just trying to take it day by day and see what happens.”
