The European number one Justin Rose fired a flawless 65 to claim a share of the lead after the second round of the Sun City Nedbank Challenge yesterday.
Rose, who won the Volvo Masters at the start of November to claim his first Order of Merit crown, carded seven birdies over the daunting Gary Player course at Sun City.
Born in Johannesburg, the 27-year-old went to the turn in 34 with birdies at the second and eighth and picked up further shots at the 10th, 11th, 13th, 15th and 18th.
On 11 under par he shared the lead with South African Trevor Immelman, who was making the most of his late call-up into the 12-man field.
Immelman, who replaced Sergio Garcia in the €3-million event, was less consistent than Rose but still managed eight birdies and two bogeys to retain a share of the lead.
Home favourite Ernie Els, seeking a fourth title and the €839,000 first prize, lies three off the pace after a 67 that threatened to be much better.
The former British Open champion was six under after 13 holes but failed to register any further birdies and bogeyed the 17th to finish eight under.
Sweden's Henrik Stenson is a shot further back on seven under.
The Australian Adam Scott, joint leader overnight with Immelman, is six under after a 71 that saw him drop three shots in the last three holes.
England's Luke Donald, joint second with Rose after an opening 68, could only manage a second-round 71 to slip to sixth.
NEW ZEALAND OPEN: England's Richard Finch and Australian Steven Bowditch shot course-record 65s in the second round of the New Zealand Open.
Bowditch leads the tournament by one shot at the halfway mark after a birdie blitz between holes nine and 13 gave him a 10-under-par total of 134.
Finch was in a tie for fourth at The Hills Golf Club, Queenstown, four shots adrift.
Bowditch led from his compatriot Paul Sheehan (nine under) and home favourite Michael Long (eight under), who both carded 67. Finch's bogey-free round included four straight birdies between the 12th and 15th.
However, the performance of the day arguably came from New Zealand's 1963 Open Champion, Bob Charles.
The 71-year-old shot an incredible 68, including five birdies and an eagle, to make the cut.
Scotland's Peter Whiteford held a share of fourth after a 68, while England's Matthew Woods, the overnight leader, slipped off the pace after a second-round 74.
Damien McGrane mixed three birdies with a bogey and a double bogey in a second successive 72 for a 144 total.
ROYAL TROPHY: Japan's Hideto Tanihara will make his Royal Trophy debut next year after being named on Asia's team to take on Ryder Cup holders Europe at the Amata Springs Country Club in Chonburi, east of Bangkok, from January 11th to 13th.
Tanihara, 71st in the world rankings and winner of six events on this year's Japan Tour, was the second player to be named on Joe Ozaki's eight-man team, after his compatriot Toru Taniguchi.
US TOUR SCHOOL: Frank Lickliter was still five shots clear of the chasing pack after three rounds of the PGA Tour National Qualifying Tournament at the Orange County National Golf Centre in Florida.
Lickliter added a third round 68 for a 24-under-par total of 192 and a five-shot lead over Jason Allred. Ireland's Keith Nolan shot 74 and is on two-over-par 218.
COURSE DESIGN: Annika Sorenstam is designing a course in Canada, the first in North America that she'll plan from scratch as the 10-time major tournament winner looks towards life after professional golf.
Sorenstam said she is working with course architect Thomas McBroom to build The Golf Club at Red Mountain, a 7,071-yard, par-71 course in Rossland, near the Red Mountain ski resort of British Columbia.
It's the fourth course-design project for the 37-year-old Swede as she seeks to build her brand in a male-dominated industry.
Former LPGA golfers Amy Alcott and Jan Stephenson are among other females taking on the likes of Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Jack Nicklaus in course design.
CHALLENGE TOUR: Argentina's Andrés Fabián Romero set the halfway target at eight-under-par 132 after a second round 69 in the Abierto del Litoral Personal at Rosario Golf Club, Argentina.
Justin Kehoe shot 73 for a six-over-par 146 total while Tim Rice was well off the pace on 14 over par after 13 holes.
