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Ford leads Africa Open

East London - Lowly ranked Englishman Matt Ford fired a 66 on Friday to take a one-stroke Africa Open halfway lead as he seeks a first European Tour triumph.

Ford, joint first-round pacesetter with Irishman Kevin Phelan, picked up an eagle and six birdies at the 6,108-metre (6,679-yard) East London Golf Club.

But he also bogeyed one hole on each nine in more favourable conditions than Thursday with the wind that can wreak havoc in the Indian Ocean town course absent.

Ranked 765 in the world, 36-year-old Ford was philosophical about his two dropped shots in the co-sanctioned European Tour-Sunshine Tour championship.

"You can never get all of it out of a round.

"I missed a short putt at 17 and paid the penalty for a poor tee shot at nine.

"They were mistakes, but you are always going to make a couple of those in a round.

"I would have taken 11-under at the beginning of the day," he stressed.

Coupled with a first-round 67, Ford is on 133 in a tournament never won by a non-South African since its 2008 debut.

Spaniard Eduardo de la Roya added a 66 to his opening 68 for a 134 total and sole occupancy of second place.

De la Roya had identical four birdie-one bogey halves as he tries to improve on modest recent form with just one top-50 finish from five starts.

"I played very good golf today, especially when putting. I am very happy with my first two rounds," the Spaniard said.

South Africans Erik van Rooyen (66) and Jaco van Zyl (66) and Frenchman Gregory Havret (67) share third, three shots behind Ford.

German Maximilian Keiffer is a shot further back after the lowest second-round score -- a nine-under 63 embroidered with an eagle and eight birdies.

Phelan could manage only a level-par 72 and lies six strokes off the pace on 139 with two rounds left.

Europe 2016 Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke avoided the embarrassment of missing the cut for a second successive weekend by carding a 68 for a 140 total.

But Englishman Andy Sullivan, winner of the Joburg Open last Sunday, will have the weekend off.

He slumped to a 77 that included two double bogeys after starting with a 72 in his bid for a third European Tour triumph in as many months.

Scores (RSA unless otherwise specified):

133 - Matt Ford (ENG) 67 66

134 - Eduardo de la Riva (ESP) 68 66

136 - Jaco Van Zyl 70 66, Gregory Havret (FRA) 69 67, Erik van Rooyen 70 66

137 - Neil Schietekat 68 69, Trevor Fisher Jnr 69 68, Maximilian Kieffer (GER) 74 63, Mark Tullo (CHI) 70 67, David Howell (ENG) 68 69, John Parry (ENG) 68 69

138 - Byeong-hun An (KOR) 73 65, Dean Burmester 72 66

139 - Lyle Rowe 72 67, Jorge Campillo (ESP) 71 68, Craig Lee (SCO) 75 64, Jean Hugo 72 67, Louis de Jager 71 68, Joakim Lagergren (SWE) 72 67, Paul Maddy (ENG) 72 67, Chris Lloyd (ENG) 69 70, Kevin Phelan (IRL) 67 72, Tom Lewis (ENG) 69 70

140 - Moritz Lampert (GER) 74 66, Keith Horne 72 68, Oliver Bekker 69 71, Justin Walters 70 70, Pablo Martin Benavides (ESP) 71 69, Jordi Garcia Pinto (ESP) 72 68, Oliver Farr (WAL) 72 68, Richard Bland (ENG) 68 72, Scott Jamieson (SCO) 71 69, Darren Clarke (NIR) 72 68, Garth Mulroy 74 66

141 - Peter Karmis 74 67, Justin Harding 74 67, Darren Fichardt 75 66, Titch Moore 73 68, Rhys West 73 68, Adilson Da Silva (BRA) 71 70, Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) 69 72, Jaco Ahlers 71 70, Jacques Blaauw 72 69, Felipe Aguilar (CHL) 70 71, Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN) 72 69, Simon Dyson (ENG) 75 66, David Drysdale (SCO) 70 71, Andrew Johnston (ENG) 71 70, Magnus A Carlsson (SWE) 74 67

142 - Chris Doak (SCO) 71 71, Mikael Lundberg(SWE) 70 72, Sam Hutsby (ENG) 72 70, Jared Harvey 72 70, Lee Slattery (ENG) 71 71, Wallie Coetsee 74 68, Mark Foster (ENG) 73 69, Damien McGrane (IRL) 72 70, Morten Orum Madsen (DEN) 71 71, Julien Quesne (FRA) 70 72, Mikko Korhonen (FIN) 73 69

143 - Todd Sinnott (AUS) 75 68, Jbe' Kruger 74 69, Merrick Bremner 73 70, Steve Webster (ENG) 73 70, Edoardo Molinari (ITA) 72 71, Brett Rumford (AUS) 74 69, Marco Crespi (ITA) 76 67, Bryce Easton 72 71, Dylan Frittelli 71 72, Seve Benson (ENG) 70 73, Matthew Baldwin (ENG) 71 72, Ruan de Smidt 71 72, James Morrison (ENG) 72 71, Shaun Norris 70 73, Brandon Stone 73 70

 

Missed the cut:

 

144 - Renato Paratore (ITA) 75 69, Richie Ramsay (SCO) 76 68, Jake Roos 74 70, Raphael Jacquelin (FRA) 71 73, Vaughn Groenewald 75 69, Kristoffer Broberg (SWE) 72 72, Colin Nel 75 69, Michael Lorenzo-Vera (FRA) 71 73, Ricardo Santos (POR) 74 70, Christiaan Basson 74 70, Eddie Taylor 73 71, Rikard Karlberg (SWE) 72 72, Jason Barnes (ENG) 74 70, Tyrone Ferreira 73 71, Ulrich van den Berg 71 73, Niclas Fasth (SWE) 73 71, Graeme Storm (ENG) 75 69, Adrian Otaegui (ESP) 70 74

145 - Alvaro Velasco (ESP) 75 70, David Horsey (ENG) 73 72, Jerome Lando Casanova (FRA) 71 74, Benjamin Hebert (FRA) 79 66, JJ Senekal 76 69, Richard McEvoy (ENG) 73 72, Keenan Davidse 73 72, Oliver Fisher (ENG) 72 73, George Coetzee 75 70, PH McIntyre 75 70, Chris Swanepoel 73 72

146 - Anthony Michael 76 70, Tom Murray (ENG) 76 70, Richard Sterne 77 69, Michael Hoey (NIR) 77 69, Estanislao Goya (ARG) 73 73, Rhys Enoch (WAL) 76 70, Doug McGuigan 71 75, Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 75 71, Daan Huizing (NED) 72 74, Andrew Georgiou 75 71, Charl Coetzee 74 72, Johan Carlsson (SWE) 76 70, Andre Bossert (SUI) 75 71, Shaun Smith 74 72

147 - Andrew McLardy 72 75, Tjaart van der Walt 73 74, Michael Hollick 74 73, Andrew Curlewis 74 73, Alex Haindl 76 71, Ryan Cairns (ZIM) 75 72, Le Roux Ferreira 72 75, Allister de Kock 71 76, Callum Mowat 74 73, Ross McGowan (ENG) 72 75

148 - Haydn Porteous 78 70, Gregory Bourdy (FRA) 74 74, Michiel Bothma 77 71, Dawie Van der Walt 77 71, Jason Palmer (ENG) 76 72, Daniel Brooks (ENG) 72 76, Heinrich Bruiners 74 74

149 - Derick Petersen 81 68, Ricardo Gonzalez (ARG) 74 75, Andy Sullivan (ENG) 72 77, Drikus van der Walt 73 76, Teboho Sefatsa 76 73

150 - Henry Featherstone (ENG) 78 72, Chris Wood (ENG) 77 73, Robert Dinwiddie (ENG) 79 71, Oliver Wilson (ENG) 79 71, James Kamte 78 72, Matthew Nixon (ENG) 78 72

151 - Mark Murless 76 75, Jake Redman 76 75, Juan Langeveld 72 79

152 - Peter Lawrie (IRL) 77 75, Jacquin Hess 80 72, Tyrone Mordt 77 75, Lindani Ndwandwe 75 77

157 - Trevor Mahoney 82 75

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