Christofer Blomstrand fired the low-round-of-the-week to move into a share of the lead alongside Spain’s Santiago Tarrio heading into the weekend at the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open.
Swede Blomstrand, one of the late starters at Durban Country Club on Friday, signed for an 11 under par second round of 61 to move into a tie at the top on 13 under par, one-stroke clear of Englishman Alfie Plant, who holds solo second.
Starting on the first, Blomstrand quickly found his stride with birdies on the second and third before making eagle on the par four sixth. A birdie on the eighth saw the 34-year-old make the turn in 31 strokes before he picked up three more shots from holes ten to 14.
And after closing out his round with three consecutive birdies, Blomstrand was delighted with his stunning effort.
“Day’s like this almost never happen, everything felt great,” he said.
“I hit so many solid shots, holed putts but also had some more chances and missed a couple of short ones. It’s been a fantastic day and I’m still quite shocked to be honest.
“I was five under through nine and was thinking about 59 for a little bit. I am super happy; it was a fantastic day. I was focussing on every shot because it’s quite a tough course, but I feel like I was in the zone the whole day.
“It’s going to be nice being in the final group tomorrow, I’ve been there a couple of times before and tomorrow’s a new day.”
Spaniard Tarrio, among the early starters, signed for an eight under par bogey-free second round of 64 to set the pace before being joined by Blomstrand in a share at the top.
Tarrio, starting on the first, carded five front nine birdies to turn in just 31 one strokes in calm early morning conditions on South Africa’s east coast.
The 35-year-old, who opened with a five under par 67 on Thursday, would pick up another shot on the tenth before adding back-to-back gains on 14 and 15 to complete an impressive second day’s work.
“I’ve played really well the past two days,” he said.
“Yesterday I made a couple of mistakes with a double bogey and a bogey. Today I hit lots of good shots and made some putts, so, overall, it was positive.
“It was super hot out there with no breeze on the front nine. The breeze got up on the back nine which cooled me down but definitely made the course more challenging.”
South African duo Oliver Bekker and Keenan Davidse and Spain’s Pablo Ereno, who held the first round lead, share fourth on 11 under par, one stroke clear of Luke Brown, Jean Hugo and Louis Albertse from the Rainbow Nation and Welshman Rhys Enoch.
The third round of the Jonsson Workwear Durban Open gets under way at 6:50am local time with Blomstrand teeing off alongside Tarrio at 12:10pm.
