By Munyaradzi Madzokere
TOP Zimbabwean golfer Scott Vincent shot an impressive 4-under-par 67 score to climb 18 places up the golf leaderboard and reach the halfway stage of the competition tied 34th at the Tokyo Olympics in Japan yesterday.
Vincent had a tough start to the medal race carding a first round 73 to close play on 2-over, falling 10 strokes behind the leader two days ago.
Yesterday, the brilliant knock by the Zimbabwean was furnished by five birdies, on the 2nd, 6th, 8th, 10th and 14th hole, while he dropped just one shot after a bogey on the 12th.
The 29-year-old golfer is now nine shots behind new leader, American Xander Schauffele, who took a one-stroke lead at an overall 11-under after a jaw-dropping second-round 63.
However, the second round was affected by repeated weather delays and was eventually suspended.
It was scheduled to resume this morning (7:45am local time) in Kawagoe, Japan, but the majority of the players, Vincent included, had completed their 18 rounds for the day.
First round leader Austria’s Sepp Straka was affected by the suspension of play as he still had three holes to play and it cost him the top spot.
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Mexican Carlos Ortiz posted four-under in the second round to trail Schauffele by one stroke, while Straka shares third place with Chilean Mito Pereira, Swede Alex Noren Hideki Matsuyama from Japan, three shots off the top.
Vincent, who is one of the five athletes representing Zimbabwe at the Tokyo Games, will need strong showing in the last two rounds to maintain the slim hopes of finishing in medal positions.
Apart from Vincent, sprinter Ngoni Makusha is the only other Zimbabwean still in the Olympics and is set to compete in the heats today.
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