Zim Open record shattered

SOUTH African golfer Martin Vorster (pictured) stole the limelight on the second day of the FBC Zim Open after he shot a superb 10 — under par 62 to break a 30-year-old course record at Royal Harare and grab the lead going into the weekend.

Voster, who managed 70 on the first day, made two eagles on the front nine and seven birdies to complete a record breaking round.

A bogey on the 15th hole was the only blemish on an otherwise majestic performance by the South African golfer

The 22-year-old golfer is now on 12 — under par after two rounds and is one stroke ahead of 2001 champion Darren Fichardt who carded 66 in the second round to finish the day on 11 — under par.

Fichardt is tied for second place with Michael Hollick who managed 66 in the second, having shot a round of 67 on the first day.

It was a fine afternoon for South African golfers who occupy the top five places on the leaderboard with Anthony Michael fourth on overall 10 — under par, while first round leader Jaco Ahlers is two shots behind on 8 — under par after a round of 71.

Kieran Vincent was the country's best placed golfer tied for 6th place with South Africans JC Ritchie and Combrinck Smit on overall 6 — under after a much improved performance of 5 — under par 67 yesterday.

The 26-year-old golfer was happy with his performance.

“Obviously a score is a score, but I felt my game was a lot similar to what happened yesterday. It was just that a couple of putts were holding, but all in all I have been hitting really well and I was happy to see a couple of putts going in. Obviously a 67 score is great anywhere you are,” he said.

“Everything is going according to plan. We know there are low rounds out there with a 62 that was shot today, but we can just go out there and try tomorrow. You never know what can happen with 36 holes to go,” Kieran Vincent added.

It was also a good outing for local favourite Robson Chinhoi who managed a round of 68 in the second to go into the weekend on 4 – under and tied for 11th place on the leaderboard. Scott Vincent also struggled with his game on the second day after he made 1 — over par for an overall 4 — under par and tied for 11th place after two rounds.

A total of nine Zimbabwean golfers will play into the weekend after making the cut.

Ben Follett-Smith on the 3 — under par, Mohammad Mandhu (-2), Biggie Chibvuri (0), Pride Sembo (0), amateur Matthew Bramford (+1) and Stuart Krog (+1) joined the Vincent brothers as well as Chinhoi are in the final two rounds.*