Lipsky tops leaderboard

American David Lipsky (above) credited his short game for his wonderful six-under-par 66 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek yesterday, taking him to eight-under for the tournament early in the second round, and his lead was still intact at the end of the day as several afternoon challengers eventually slipped back.

The 30-year-old goes into the weekend with a one-stroke lead over two Scotsmen, Scott Jamieson and Marc Warren, with two others from the home of golf, David Drysdale and Doug McGuigan, in a tie for fourth on six-under.

McGuigan and Jamieson also fired 66s yesterday, with McGuigan also thankful for his putter being red-hot.

“I’ve birdied eight two days in a row and to birdie that hole is a nice achievement, but on the back nine I really got things going. I played solidly, putted well. I had nine one-putts on the back nine and I don’t think I’ve ever done that before.

“It’s exciting to be in the mix here again. I lost this event on a playoff 15 years ago at Houghton Golf Club and it’s been a thorn in my flesh for many years, I began to wonder if I’ll ever get back in the mix. I look forward to the weekend,” McGuigan said after his round.

Jamieson started on the 10th and his round was set up by birdies on five of the last six holes of the back nine.

Defending champion Brandon Stone began the day three strokes off Oliver Bekker’s lead and was quickly in trouble as he took a double-bogey seven on the par-five second after having to hack out from deep inside the thick bush. But the 25-year-old restored the credibility thereafter as he collected six birdies and dropped just two more shots to sign for a two-under 70 and lift himself to five-under-par overall.

Fellow South Africans Bekker (73), Darren Fichardt (70) and Dylan Frittelli (70) are all also on five-under.