James Kingston of South Africa was the halfway leader in the South African Open at Durban Country Club yesterday as compatriot and tournament drawcard Ernie Els struggled to find his form for the second day running.
Kingston scored 67 in the second round for an 11-under-par, 36-hole aggregate of 133, with Englishmen Andrew Butterfield and Jonathan Lomas occupying second place on 135 after rounds of 69 and 67 respectively.
This tournament is the first European Tour event of the year but, technically, the third of the season as events in Taiwan and Hong Kong late last year count.
Kingston was South Africa's top player on the Asian Tour in 2001, finishing seventh in the order of merit, and has won four times in the East since joining the tour in 1996.
"I've been playing well in the last few years so I'm not surprised to be leading," he said. "Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Paul Lawrie are in the field here and they're all big names.
"And they'll probably be around come Sunday afternoon. But I don't see myself playing against them, and I'm not intimidated by them. My job is to play against the course and see what happens from there."
Kingston had six birdies with his only bogey coming at the par-four 16th where he three-putted.
World number five Els opened with a disappointing 73 on Thursday and played well for 15 holes yesterday to move to four under for the event.
But he bogeyed two of his last three holes for a 69 to move back to two-under, which leaves him nine off the pace.
Butterfield opened with a 66 in the wind on Thursday but was equally pleased with 69 when conditions were calmer.
"The 66 might have been a lower score, but I'm proud of the way I hung on under pressure for the 69," said the 29-year-old who dedicated himself to becoming a top golfer after his father George, who used to occasionally caddie for him as a teenager, died 16 years ago.
Lomas, starting his round at the 10th, had loops of 33 and 34 and finished each nine-hole stretch strongly with two birdies.
South African Martin Maritz moved speedily up the leaderboard with a day's best eight-under-par 64 for 136 to lie joint fourth with compatriot Tim Clark, who had a 70. Maritz (24) was four over after nine holes of his first round but is now very much in contention after a remarkable fightback which included an eagle and six birdies.
"All I wanted to do today was give myself a chance for a weekend and I think I did a pretty good job," he said.
US Open champion Retief Goosen shared sixth place on 137 with fellow South African Ashley Roestoff, Arjun Atwal of India and Alastair Forsyth of Scotland.
Overnight leader Carl Pettersson from Sweden, who opened with a 64, crashed to a 77 to be on 141 while defending champion Mark McNulty of Zimbabwe scored 71 for 144 to just make the cut on the qualifying score.
British Amateur champion Michael Hoey had another pleasing day, shooting 72 to match his previous day's score. Seventeen-year-old South African amateur Charl Schwartzel, who briefly challenged for the lead during the first round, continued his impressive showing with a 67 to stand tied for ninth place on six under.
Among those to miss the cut were Englishmen Justin Rose and Peter Baker, and Sweden's Anders Forsbrand.
