GOLF JOBURG OPEN:MICHAEL HOEY remains firmly in contention just one shot behind overnight leader David Drysdale despite thunder and lightning halting play for a time during yesterday's second round of the €1.1million Joburg Open in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Hoey had started the day one shot off the overnight lead after a fine opening round of seven-under par 64 on the more difficult East Course.
On day two he steered a steady course by parring his first 11 holes before picking up his first birdie at the par four 12th.
Just when the 29-year-old looked to be slipping off the pace - with too many pars - he added further birdies at the 14th and 15th before the klaxon sounded at 2pm local time to suspend play at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club.
Play eventually resumed and Hoey reached the sanctuary of the clubhouse with three closing pars and signed for a second round 68. At 10-under par he is one shot off the pace set by Drysdale, who completed his round of 66 before play was suspended.
The Scot has yet to drop a shot in the tournament and yesterday's round contained five birdies in all, four on the front nine to reach the turn in 32 before the leader added another at the 15th.
Drysdale's 11-under 131 aggregate left him one better than Hoey and South Africa's Oliver Bekker (65) in a share of second.
Bekker, who led for most of the morning, said: "I don't think I could have had a better draw for this tournament because I was off first in the afternoon on the East (course), getting the good greens and I didn't have to worry about thunderstorms in the afternoon.
"I didn't have a good finish at the end of last year, so I'm just trying to manage myself better on the golf course by cutting out the bogeys."
Joint overnight leaders Steven Jeppesen from Sweden and South Africa's Trevor Fisher Jnr experienced difficulties, with the former carding 76 to be three-under, while the latter shot 79 to drop from joint first into a tie for 101st on level par and miss the cut.
Defending champion Richard Sterne bounced back from his opening 71 with a 66 to be tied 18th on five-under, while 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.
Hoey will be flying solo this weekend as he was the only one of four Irishmen to make the halfway cut. Noel Fox shot a second successive 72 to be two-over, one better than Donegal's Michael McGeady who shot 71.
Jonathan Caldwell's 75 left the Clandeboye pro well off the pace on five-over.
This is Hoey's second stint on the main tour after failing to hold onto his card in 2006. That said, he believes time spent on the Challenge Tour has stood in him in good stead.
"I had my full status in 2006 and it's been partial since then. I didn't do well in 2006, but I've learnt a lot now," said Hoey, who is well-placed to contend for this week's first prize of €174,350 and a maiden win on the main tour.
"I've learnt a lot about my swing and about how much to practise. I'm trying my best for consistency.
"I wasn't consistent enough on the Challenge Tour, but I still managed a couple of wins in the last two years before starting to play well again towards the end of last year.
"I had a fourth place in Morocco and I also played well in the South African Open. I was in the lead at one stage but had a few poor back nines and eventually finished 11th. But I'm feeling a lot more confident again."
Second round scores (Irish in Bold, British unless stated, par 71)
131- D Drysdale 65 66
132- O Bekker (Rsa) 67 65, Michael Hoey(NIrl) 64 68
133- D Willett 67 66, A McLardy (Rsa) 65 68 134 - R McEvoy 69 65, T ++Van Aswegen (Rsa) 69 65, R Cabrera Bello (Spn) 65 69
135- C Del Moral (Spn) 69 66, J Are Larsen (Nor) 66 69, C Coetzee (Rsa) 68 67, J Morrison 67 68
136- A Ahokas (Fin) 72 64, A McLean 71 65, W Coetsee (Rsa) 72 64, A Garcia-Heredia (Spn) 65 71, B Wiesberger (Aut) 72 64, A Snobeck (Fra) 72 64, R Jacquelin (Fra) 71 65, E Molinari (Ita) 65 71
137- B Liddle (Rsa) 67 70, J Haeggman (Swe) 69 68, L Oosthuizen (Rsa) 71 66, J Van Zyl (Rsa) 67 70, S Griffiths 73 64, T Charamba (Zim) 70 67, G Lockerbie 69 68, D Dixon 68 69, T Remkes (Ned) 67 70, L Gagli (Ita) 70 67, R Sterne (Rsa) 71 66
138- T Aiken (Rsa) 69 69, G De laet (Can) 72 66, M Korhonen (Fin) 69 69, G Molteni (Ita) 73 65, E Johansen (Nor) 73 65, D Fourie (Rsa) 68 70, C Johnston (Rsa) 72 66, K Eriksson (Swe) 69 69, J Roos (Rsa) 69 69, M Lafeber (Ned) 66 72, D Fichardt (Rsa) 68 70, A Rocha (Bra) 67 71, K Horne (Rsa) 68 70, R Goosen (Rsa) 70 68, J Kamte (Rsa) 69 69, C Doak 68 70, M Maritz (Rsa) 66 72
139- D Carter 67 72, J Mellor 72 67, A Hansen (Den) 71 68, S Jeppesen (Swe) 63 76, J Morgan 69 70, A Bossert (Swi) 70 69, K Stone (Rsa) 69 70, M Curtis (Zim) 74 65, B Pieters (Rsa) 68 71, C Wood 69 70, JM Arruti (Spn) 74 65, C Schwartzel (Rsa) 68 71, J Hugo (Rsa) 67 72, E Goya (Arg) 70 69, G Clark 72 67, P Archer 69 70
140- C Gane 70 70, N Cheetham 73 67, J Kingston (Rsa) 71 69, D McGuigan 69 71, I Pyman 71 69, T Ferreira (Rsa) 68 72, S Little 72 68, M Reale (Ita) 66 74, M Wiegele (Aut) 68 72, U Van Den Berg (Rsa) 70 70, J Huldahl (Den) 67 73, H Otto (Rsa) 67 73, H Nystrom (Swe) 68 72, B Lincoln (Rsa) 68 72, C Rodiles (Spn) 69 71, M Bothma (Rsa) 70 70, K Jorgensen (Den) 68 72, C Suneson (Spn) 67 73, E Jansen (Rsa) 70 70
Missed the cut:141 - S Lewton 69 72, G Mulroy (Rsa) 68 73, A Wilson (Rsa) 69 72, D Van Den Heever (Rsa) 68 73, J Etsebeth (Rsa) 72 69, S O'Hara 73 68, R Wellington (Rsa) 74 67, J De buisson (Rsa) 73 68, W Abery (Rsa) 70 71, D Pappas (Rsa) 69 72, P Nelson (Rsa) 69 72, T Mordt (Rsa) 70 71, A Curlewis (Rsa) 69 72, S Manley 73 68, D Van der Walt (Rsa) 71 70, O Sandys (Rsa) 67 74 Other Irish:144 Noel Fox 72 72, 145 Michael McGeady 71 74 147 - Jonathan Caldwell 72 75.
