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Lombard with a win on his mind, not European Tour finale

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Zander Lombard (Getty Images)
Zander Lombard (Getty Images)

Sun City - Zander Lombard delighted South African fans on Friday as he grabbed the lead at the halfway stage of the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City.

Lombard, who is making his debut in the tournament this week, stormed into a two-shot lead to sit atop the leaderboard on 11-under par.

The 24-year-old was the final entry to this week's tournament and started the week in 76th spot in the Race to Dubai standings.

Lombard is looking for a strong finish to book his spot in the Top 50 field for the European Tour finale, the DP World Tour Championship.

The South African admitted that although he hopes to play in Dubai next week, his focus remains solely on the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

"It's the pinnacle of the year, you want to play it. I'm not going to try and play for it, I'm going to try and win it and all the spoils that come with it," Lombard told reporters after his round on Friday.

Lombard, who topped the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit last season, believes that if he can maintain his composure heading into the weekend, good things can come from it.

"It's a huge opportunity, and just need to keep myself calm and do the same on the weekend. I've got a great team behind me and the processes are in place," he said.

"I'm going to stick to my processes. It sounds like a cliché, but it’s as simple as that and we'll see where it puts me at the end of the week."

Lombard tees off in the final feature group on Saturday alongside fellow countryman Oosthuizen and Belgian Thomas Detry at 10:20.

Leading scores after the second round of the European Tour's Nedbank Golf Challenge on Friday at the par-72 Gary Player Country Club in Sun City (RSA unless noted):

133 - Zander Lombard 68-65

135 - Louis Oosthuizen 63-72

137 - Thomas Detry (BEL) 66-71

138 - Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) 69-69, Marcus Kinhult (SWE) 69-69

139 - Joachim B Hansen (DEN) 69-70, Aaron Rai (ENG) 70-69, Jason Scrivener (AUS) 69-70

140 - Nacho Elvira (ESP) 70-70, Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) 71-69, Mikko Korhonen (FIN) 70-70, Guido Migliozzi (ITA) 67-73, Alvaro Quiros (ESP) 70-70, Paul Waring (ENG) 69-71, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 71-69
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