A STUNNING round of nine-under-par 63 gave South African golfer, Trevor Fisher Jr a comfortable four-shot lead over compatriot, Jean Hugo at the halfway stage of the 2017 Zimbabwe Open Championship at Royal Harare Golf Club yesterday.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
The 37-year-old nine-time winner on the Sunshine Tour had nine birdies in his bogey-free round to lead by four strokes on 14-under-par 130 ahead of Hugo, who followed up his opening 65 with a 69 for a 36-hole total of 10-under.
The major highlight of the day was, however, the second lowest score of Fisher Jr’s career, which equalled the long standing course record set by Zimbabwean legend, Nick Price in 1998 before being matched by Italian golfer, Francesco Laporta, in 2013 and 2015 Zimbabwe Open champion Dean Burmester.
Fisher Jr is yet to win the Zimbabwe Open although he came agonisingly close to claim the 2015 title before narrowly missing out in a sudden death playoff to fellow South African Chris Swanepoel.
The one-time European Tour winner is, however, now in pole position to do so and put another near-miss behind him in the best possible way.
A further five strokes off the lead is South African Oliver Bekker on nine-under par, while Rhys Enoch from Wales is on seven-under-par after carding his second consecutive round of 68.
Zimbabwean professional golfer Ryan Cairns, who finished the opening round just one shot off the lead, had a tough day after carding a one-over 73 to drop to a tie for ninth on five-under.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
He is joined by fellow Zimbabwean professional golfer, Tongo Charamba, who followed up his opening two-under-par 70 with a 69 to comfortably make the cut. Cairns told NewsDay Sport in an interview after his round that he would throw caution to the wind in the final two rounds in a bid to get closer to the leaders.
“It was a bit disappointing to shoot over par after the way I started, but on this golf course, you’re going to have at least one bad day, where it’s a little bit shaky. I got off to a bad start and tried to bring back, but I missed a short putt on 16 for a bogey.
“Going into the final two days, the strategy will be to fire at the flags, I’ll have to take some risks and if they come off then that’s good. I will have to shoot two low scores to stand a chance,” he said afterwards.
Also on five-under-par is South African golfer Christian Basson, who made a hole-in-one on the par-3 second with a five iron.
