GOLF - JOBURG OPEN: Michael Hoey kept his focus in the storm disrupted second round of the Joburg Open to card a flawless 68 and remain one shot off the lead held by David Drysdale after the Scotsman carded a bogey-free 66.
Hoey, who began the competition with a 64 after missing the cut last year, was one of the players affected by a near two-hour rain delay during the early afternoon - but he was more than happy to wait.
"It was just perfect at the end there," reflected the Ballymoney-born golfer. "There was no wind, which was probably an advantage because it was quite hot earlier on. The weather was perfect."
Hoey started the day one shot off the overnight lead after yesterday's fine opening seven-under par 64. From there the 29-year-old parred his first 11 holes before his round kicked into gear in the latter stages
He picked up shots at the 12th, 14th and 15th before the players were called off the course, but returned to par the remaining three holes and join South African Oliver Bekker on 10 under.
He will be the lone Irishman over the weekend after Noel Fox, Michael McGeady and Jonathan Caldwell missed the cut.
Fox finished two over after another 72, McGeady shot 74 to be three-over, while Caldwell ended up on five-over, thanks to 75.
Andrew McLardy, another home favourite, also managed to stay among the chasing pack with his three-under 68 moving him to nine under overall, alongside Englishman Danny Willett, who carded a 66, while Richard McEvoy, Tyrone van Aswegen and Rafael Cabrera Bello are on eight-under 134.
Four of Drysdale's five birdies came on the front nine of the €1.1 million co-sanctioned European and Sunshine Tour event to go with his birdie-eagle finish yesterday.
The 33-year-old said: "I'm very pleased, especially after playing well yesterday with a good eagle finish, which was nice, and just kept it going today, so overall very happy.
"I played well all day (yesterday) and had good chances on the front nine and then chipped in with an eagle at the end on the back nine, it was just a little bit of justice really I think to finish. But so far, so good."
Joint-overnight leaders Steven Jeppesen and Trevor Fisher Jnr had a difficult time today, with the former coming home with a five-over 65 - three under overall - and the latter completely falling apart with an eight-over round of 79 on his way to missing the cut.
Defending champion Richard Sterne, who is bidding for a third consecutive European Tour title, bounced back from his opening-day 71 with a fine round of 66 - five under overall.
Two-time major winner Retief Goosen shot a 68 to move to four under for the championship, while three birdies in his last four holes helped Chris Wood finish a further stroke back at three under and just make the cut.
Collated second round scores & totals in the European tour Joburg Open, Royal Johannesburg and Kensington GC, South Africa
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71):
131 David Drysdale 65 66
132 Oliver Bekker (Rsa) 67 65, Michael Hoey 64 68
133 Danny Willett 67 66, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 65 68
134 Richard McEvoy 69 65, Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa) 69 65, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 65 69
135 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 69 66, Jan Are Larsen (Nor) 66 69, Charl Coetzee (Rsa) 68 67, James Morrison 67 68
136 Antti Ahokas (Fin) 72 64, Alan McLean 71 65, Wallie Coetsee (Rsa) 72 64, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (Spa) 65 71, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 72 64, Anthony
Snobeck (Fra) 72 64, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 65, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 65 71
137 Brett Liddle (Rsa) 67 70, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 69 68, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 71 66, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 67 70, Simon Griffiths 73 64, Tc Charamba (Zim) 70 67, Gary Lockerbie 69 68, David Dixon 68 69, Taco Remkes (Ned) 67 70, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 70 67, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 71 66
138 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 69 69, Graham De laet (Can) 72 66, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 69 69, Gregory Molteni (Ita) 73 65, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 73 65, Dion Fourie (Rsa) 68 70, Cameron Johnston (Rsa) 72 66, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 69 69, Jake Roos (Rsa) 69 69, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 66 72, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 68 70, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 67 71, Keith Horne (Rsa) 68 70, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 68, James Kamte (Rsa) 69 69, Christopher Doak 68 70, Martin Maritz (Rsa) 66 72
139 David Carter 67 72, John Mellor 72 67, Anders Hansen (Den) 71 68, Steven Jeppesen (Swe) 63 76, John E Morgan 69 70, Andre Bossert (Swi) 70 69, Kevin Stone (Rsa) 69 70, Michael Curtis (Zim) 74 65, Brandon Pieters (Rsa) 68 71, Chris Wood 69 70, Jesus Maria Arruti (Spa) 74 65, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 68 71, Jean Hugo (Rsa) 67 72, Estanislao Goya (Arg) 70 69, Gary Clark 72 67, Phillip Archer 69 70
140 Chris Gane 70 70, Neil Cheetham 73 67, James Kingston (Rsa) 71 69, Doug McGuigan 69 71, Iain Pyman 71 69, Tyrone Ferreira (Rsa) 68 72, Sam Little 72 68, Michele Reale (Ita) 66 74, Martin Wiegele (Aut) 68 72, Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa) 70 70, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 67 73, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 67 73, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 68 72, Bobby Lincoln (Rsa) 68 72, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 69 71, Michiel Bothma (Rsa) 70 70, Kasper linnet Jorgensen (Den) 68 72, Carl Suneson (Spa) 67 73, Edrich Jansen (Rsa) 70 70
-------------The following players failed to make the cut---------------
141 Steve Lewton 69 72, Garth Mulroy (Rsa) 68 73, Andrew Wilson (Rsa) 69 72, Divan Van Den Heever (Rsa) 68 73, Johan Etsebeth (Rsa) 72 69, Steven O'Hara 73 68, Ross Wellington (Rsa) 74 67, Johan De buisson (Rsa) 73 68, Warren Abery (Rsa) 70 71, Deane Pappas (Rsa) 69 72, Prinavin Nelson (Rsa) 69 72, Tyrone Mordt (Rsa) 70 71, Andrew Curlewis (Rsa) 69 72, Stuart Manley 73 68, Dawie Van der Walt (Rsa) 71 70, Omar Sandys (Rsa) 67 74, Mark f Haastrup (Den) 70 71, Callie Swart (Rsa) 68 73, Justin Walters (Rsa) 67 74, Ryan Tipping (Rsa) 73 68
142 Merrick Bremner (Rsa) 71 71, Liam Bond 71 71, Wes Heffernan (Can) 69 73, Johan Wahlqvist (Swe) 74 68, David Frost (Rsa) 72 70, Grant Veenstra (Rsa) 69 73, Ockie Strydom (Rsa) 71 71, Wil Besseling (Ned) 72 70, Joel Sjoholm (Swe) 69 73, Mark Murless (Rsa) 73 69, Trevor Fisher Jnr (Rsa) 63 79, Marc Farry (Fra) 73 69, Richie Ramsay 68 74, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 70 72, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 74 68, Inder Van Weerelt (Ned) 73 69, Ruan Botha (Rsa) 70 72, Dylan
Frittelli (Rsa) 70 72
143 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 65 78, Branden Grace (Rsa) 70 73, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 76 67, Nic Henning (Rsa) 69 74, Bradford Vaughan (Rsa) 74 69, Clodomiro Carranza (Arg) 70 73, Mohammed Tayob (Rsa) 78 65, Callum Macaulay 74 69, Andrew McArthur 73 70, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 67 76, Ryan Thompson (Rsa) 69 74, DarrynLloyd (Rsa) 73 70, Reggie Adams (Rsa) 74 69, Stuart Davis 77 66, Anton Haig (Rsa) 72 71, Jaco Ahlers (Rsa) 73 70, Andre Cruse (Rsa) 72 71, Ryan Cairns (Zim) 70 73, Dominique Nouailhac (Fra) 70 73, Grant Muller (Rsa) 70 73, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 73
144 Noel Fox 72 72, Leif Westerberg (Swe) 72 72, Eugene Marugi (Rsa) 74 70, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 72 72, Heinrich Bruiners (Rsa) 74 70, Louis De jager (Rsa) 74 70, Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 70 74, Peter Kaensche (Nor) 66 78, Federico Colombo (Ita) 69 75, David Hewan (Rsa) 69 75, Richard Bland 73 71, Steve Basson (Rsa) 71 73, Garry Houston 71 73, Christiaan Basson (Rsa) 70 74, Nico Van Rensburg (Rsa) 71 73, Chris Williams (Rsa) 69 75, Ariel Canete (Arg) 68 76,
Steve Van Vuuren (Rsa) 75 69, Lindani Ndwandwe (Rsa) 70 74
145 Jacques Blaauw (Rsa) 71 74, Desvonde Botes (Rsa) 69 76, Michael Mcgeady 71 74, Adilson Da Silva (Bra) 68 77, Morne Buys (Rsa) 71 74, Bradley Davison (Rsa) 73 72, Rolf Muntz (Ned) 72 73, Sam Walker 72 73, Marcus Higley 71 74, Roland Steiner (Aut) 73 72, James Ruth 67 78, Neil Schietekat (Rsa) 77 68, Vaughn Groenewald (Rsa) 69 76
146 Dean Lambert (Rsa) 78 68, Louis Moolman (Rsa) 74 72, Peter Whiteford 70 76, Anders Schmidt Hansen (Den) 68 78, Keenan Davidse (Rsa) 72 74, Lars Brovold (Nor) 76 70
147 Jonathan Caldwell 72 75, Titch Moore (Rsa) 76 71, Alex Haindl (Rsa) 71 76, Dale Marmion 71 76, Henk Alberts (Rsa) 69 78, Riaan De bruyn (Rsa) 75 72, Simon Wakefield 78 69
148 Sion Bebb 72 76, Ben Evans 76 72, Josh Cunliffe (Rsa) 74 74, Pg Van zyl (Rsa) 76 72, Teboho Sefatsa (Rsa) 74 74, Van Phillips 74 74
149 Andrew Butterfield 74 75, Javier Colomo (Spa) 76 73, Derik Ferreira (Rsa) 75 74, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 72 77
150 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 69 81, David Griffiths 79 71, Jonathan Lomas 75 75
152 Thabang Simon (Rsa) 72 80, Des Terblanche (Rsa) 77 75
153 Anthony Grenier (Fra) 72 81, Ake Nilsson (Rsa) 80 73
154 Alphuis Kelapile (Rsa) 75 79
156 Andre Ferreira (Rsa) 76 80, Emmanuel Masoliedze (Rsa) 80 76
158 John Bele (Rsa) 84 74
168 Musolo Nethunzwi (Rsa) 82 86
