Lawrie leads Kaymer by one

Golf: Scotland's Paul Lawrie is the one-shot leader at the halfway stage of the Nedbank Challenge, with his three-under-par …

Golf:Scotland's Paul Lawrie is the one-shot leader at the halfway stage of the Nedbank Challenge, with his three-under-par 69 giving him the edge at Sun City. The Ryder Cup winner takes the slenderest of advantages into the third day, with Martin Kaymer a shot behind.

Four players - Bill Haas, Francesco Molinari, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel - trail the Scot on one under, with two-time defending champion Lee Westwood level par.

Behind him is Peter Hanson (one over), before a real gap to the rest, with Carl Pettersson three over, overnight leader joint Nicolas Colsaerts and Garth Mulroy four over and finally, Justin Rose, a further four shots back.

It was a horror day for the Englishman, a seven-over 79 not amongst his finest rounds, but Lawrie will at least sleep easy after his 69.

READ MORE

He could have signed for an even better score too, with a bogey on the 15th-hole par four stopping him from registering the outright best round of the day.

Kaymer also carded a 69 consisting of five birdies and two bogeys, while Westwood, looking for a third successive win at the event, was left to rue a bogey and a double-bogey six at the par-four 16th as he ended one over for the day.

He had little on compatriot Rose, though, whose score was heavily undermined by a triple bogey on the par-four third.

Colsaerts shot a 78 today after opening with a 70 yesterday to lead alongside Haas.

Collated second-round scores and totals:

140Paul Lawrie 71 69

141Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 69

143Francesco Molinari (Ita) 72 71, Bill Haas (USA) 70 73, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 72 71, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 71 72

144Lee Westwood 71 73

145Peter Hanson (Swe) 72 73

147Carl Pettersson (Swe) 72 75

148Garth Mulroy (Rsa) 75 73, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 70 78

152Justin Rose 73 79