AFTER MAKING HEADLINES yesterday, Holywood’s Tom McKibbin had a more run-of-the-mill day today when he shot a one-under round of 71 to drop six places to a share of 13th after a weather-disrupted second day at the Investec South African Open Championship in Johannesburg.
Leader Thriston Lawrence is two clear of the field and seven ahead of Down-man McKibbin with Waterford’s Gary Murphy a shot further back in a tie for 20th.
Lawrence, who won twice the DP World Tour last season, had birdies on four of the last five holes as he carded a 67.
“I’ve been giving myself a lot of chances out there,” Lawrence said in an interview with Sky Sports. “I lost a little bit of momentum at the ninth and 10th, but managed to make a few long putts at the end to shoot five under.”
Play was halted at 3.09pm local time because of a thunderstorm threat which was the last news John Murphy needed as the Irishman had got himself up the leaderboard. He was three-under for the day, one-under for the tournament, after seven holes of his second round. The projected cut is two-under.
Meanwhile, Conor Purcell is in a tie for 16th after two rounds of the Australian Open in Victoria. Purcell had an even par round of 72 today, leaving him on two-under at the half-way stage of the tournament, six shots behind leader, Adam Scott.
He started well, getting a birdie on 4, before back-to-back bogeys on nine and ten halted his momentum. Another birdie on 13 offered hope of a late rally but a third bogey on 16 was a blow. His response was good, though, with a third birdie of his round coming on 17.
