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Hugo leads in Harare

Harare - He’s been working on his long game and it’s starting to pay off for Jean Hugo as he fired a five-under-par 67 on Friday to move into a two-stroke lead at the halfway mark of the Golden Pilsener Zimbabwe Open.

He made an eagle, five birdies and two bogeys around Royal Harare Golf Club to be at 11-under-par for the tournament, two shots ahead of rookie Haydn Porteous, with five players three back on eight-under – Steven Ferreira, Warren Abery, Le Roux Ferreira, Jbe’ Kruger and Daniel Greene. The leading Zimbabwean was Tongo Charamba on six-under after his one-under-par 71 in the second round.

“The long game wasn’t that great last year or the year before,” said Hugo, “so I’ve been working on that quite a bit. I’ve always known my short game should hold up. But I’ve been working a bit and it feels better that I can attack the course more if my long game is good.

“In the past season or two, I’ve played too conservatively so I don’t really give myself chances. It’s just a mind-set, but because of the work, my confidence is showing,” he added.

That confidence showed immediately with an eagle three on the third, but he followed it immediately with a bogey – “It seems to be my bad hole on the course,” he joked – but two more birdies before the turn had him three-under through nine.

He made birdie on 12 and bogey on 15, and responded to that bogey with consecutive birdies on 16 and 17 to wrap up his round.

And as much as it was his long game which set things up for him, his putting on greens that the majority of Sunshine Tour professionals agree are the best they play on all year was also an important component of his dominance.

“I’ve had 26 and 25 putts in the two rounds so far,” he said. “Once you get on line, the ball doesn’t really not go in. So it’s all about reading the greens, which are quite quick – but I like these greens.”

Porteous is playing the course for the first time, but his rounds of 69 and then 66 show he’s come to terms quickly with what’s required. “I think if you keep the bogeys to a minimum on this course, you’ll always have enough birdie chances,” he said.

Kruger, who won the title at Royal Harare in 2010, and Greene, proved the wisdom of that kind of approach. They both felt that it was a struggle around the course, carding three-under 69s each.

“It was maturity which kept me in there,” said Kruger. “I wasn’t quite timing it, but I was able to make birdies to make up for the mistakes I made.”

Greene felt similarly, although he made fewer mistakes, with just two bogeys on his card.

“I’m pleased with a 69 when it felt so difficult,” he said. “It was only late in the round that I sorted out a little swing problem, and I was able to make a few birdies.”

It’s Hugo they will be chasing over the weekend, and he won’t be hanging around. “You need to attack this course,” he said. “It’s too long and the greens are too narrow and small to be coming in with long irons, so the more attacking you play, the better off you’ll be.”

Scores:
133 - Jean Hugo (RSA) 66 67
135 - Haydn Porteous (RSA) 69 66
136 - Steven Ferreira (RSA) 69 67, Warren Abery (RSA) 67 69, Le Roux Ferreira (RSA) 65 71, Jbe' Kruger (RSA) 67 69, Daniel Greene (RSA) 67 69
137 - Jacques Blaauw (RSA) 66 71, Louis de Jager (RSA) 70 67, Matthew Carvell (RSA) 72 65, Christiaan Basson (RSA) 72 65
138 - Stuart Smith (BOT) 68 70, Madalitso Muthiya (ZAM) 69 69, Colin Nel (RSA) 71 67, Theunis Spangenberg (RSA) 70 68, TC Charamba (ZIM) 67 71, Ulrich van den Berg (RSA) 68 70, PH McIntyre (RSA) 69 69
139 - Shaun Smith (RSA) 72 67, Lyle Rowe (RSA) 69 70, Wallie Coetsee (RSA) 70 69, Andrew Curlewis (RSA) 71 68, Jaco Ahlers (RSA) 72 67, Brandon Stone (RSA) 70 69, Andrew Georgiou (RSA) 70 69, Vaughn Groenewald (RSA) 69 70
140 - Jake Redman (RSA) 71 69, Lindani Ndwandwe (RSA) 72 68, Keith Horne (RSA) 68 72, Doug McGuigan (RSA) 70 70, CJ du Plessis (RSA) 70 70, Martin du Toit (RSA) 68 72, Ruan de Smidt (RSA) 70 70, Jake Roos (RSA) 70 70, Danie van Tonder (RSA) 70 70
141 - Alan McLean (SCO) 68 73, Titch Moore (RSA) 70 71, Alex Haindl (RSA) 72 69, Steve Surry (ENG) 71 70, Alan Michell (RSA) 67 74, Allan Versfeld (RSA) 69 72, James Kingston (RSA) 74 67, Callum Mowat (RSA) 75 66, Jack Harrison (ENG) 67 74
142 - Ignatius Mketekete (ZIM) 71 71, Bryce Easton (RSA) 74 68, Tyrone Ferreira (RSA) 73 69, Neil Schietekat (RSA) 70 72, Pieter Moolman (RSA) 71 71, Toto Thimba (Jnr) 71 71, JJ Senekal (RSA) 70 72, Charl Coetzee (RSA) 70 72, Trevor Fisher Jnr (RSA) 73 69, JC Ritchie (RSA) 70 72
143 - Drikus van der Walt (RSA) 70 73, Wynand Dingle (RSA) 75 68, Merrick Bremner (RSA) 71 72, James Kamte (RSA) 72 71, Scott Vincent (ZIM) (AMA) 73 70, Ryan Cairns (ZIM) 71 72, Heinrich Bruiners (RSA) 74 69, JG Claassen (RSA) 69 74
144 - Roberto Lupini (RSA) 68 76, Tertius van den Berg (RSA) 72 72, Darryn Lloyd (RSA) 72 72, Shaun Norris (RSA) 69 75, Michael Hollick (RSA) 71 73, Justin Turner (RSA) 69 75, Jeff Inglis (ENG) 72 72, Teboho Sefatsa (RSA) 73 71, Anthony Michael (RSA) 70 74, Eddie Taylor (RSA) 70 74
Missed the cut:-
145 - Drikus Bruyns (RSA) 73 72, Nic Henning (RSA) 74 71, Micky Hough (ZIM) 73 72, Dean Burmester (RSA) 76 69, Gert Myburgh (RSA) 72 73, Juan Langeveld (RSA) 70 75, Sean Farrell (ZIM) 74 71, Rhys West (RSA) 76 69, Ryan Strauss (RSA) 75 70, Divan van den Heever (RSA) 74 71, Erik van Rooyen (RSA) 73 72, Sheldon Steyn (ZIM) 72 73
146 - Louis Calitz (RSA) 74 72, Tich Musemburi (ZIM) 74 72, Francesco Laporta (ITA) 75 71, John Bele (RSA) 75 71, Dismas Indiza (KEN) 71 75, Desne van den Bergh (RSA) 73 73, Hendrik Buhrmann (RSA) 73 73, Justin Harding (RSA) 74 72, Clifford Howes (RSA) 74 72, Mohammad Rauf Mandhu (ZIM) 74 72, Farayi Chitengwa (ZIM) 78 68
147 - Njuguna Ngugi (KEN) 75 72, Stuart Krog (ZIM) (AMA) 72 75, Attie Schwartzel (RSA) 73 74, Jacques Kruyswijk (RSA) 71 76, Torben Baumann (GER) 72 75, Jared Harvey (RSA) 75 72, Rhys Enoch (WAL) 74 73, Desvonde Botes (RSA) 74 73
148 - Jaco Prinsloo (RSA) 75 73, Francois Coetzee (RSA) 74 74, Andrew Light (RSA) 76 72, Peter Karmis (RSA) 76 72, T I Mazibuko (RSA) 74 74, Derick Petersen (RSA) 76 72
149 - Ryan Tipping (RSA) 75 74, Riekus Nortje (RSA) 73 76, Paul de Beer (RSA) 78 71, Coenie Stoop (RSA) 80 69, Stefan Engell Andersen (KEN) 78 71
150 - Andre Cruse (RSA) 75 75, Ryan Lang (ZIM) 72 78, Chris Swanepoel (RSA) 80 70, Robson Saurombe (ZIM) 78 72
151 - Oliver Bekker (RSA) 74 77, Maritz Wessels (RSA) 77 74
152 - Day Muyambo (ZIM) 79 73, Bryce Bibby (RSA) 81 71, Davison Elijah (ZIM) 79 73, Tyrone Ryan (RSA) 77 75, Joe Nawanga (NAM) 75 77
153 - Brett Liddle (RSA) 76 77, Dale Howie (ZIM) 78 75, Jason Jackson (ZIM) 74 79
154 - Mike Maile (RSA) 79 75, Thembelani Vudhla (ZIM) (AMA) 78 76, Arthur Horne (SWZ) 78 76, Gideon Pienaar (RSA) 78 76, Tranos Muradzikwa (ZIM) 78 76
155 - Scott Ferguson (ZIM) 75 80, Shaahid Mahmed (ZIM) (AMA) 79 76, Peter Banda (ZIM) 78 77, Brian Gondo (ZIM) 76 79, Thabang Simon (RSA) 80 75, Phillip Tshuma (ZIM) 73 82, Mark Murless (RSA) 76 79, Greg Bentley (ZIM) 78 77
156 - Nyasha Muyambo (ZIM) 78 78, Makhetha Mazibuko (RSA) 79 77, Kayyam Rauf Mandhu (ZIM) 77 79
157 - Shain Johnson (ZIM) 80 77
158 - Mpho Mafishe (RSA) 82 76, Kangwine Chiluba (ZAM) 77 81, Clive Nguru (ZIM) (AMA) 82 76
159 - Simon Katembenuka (ZIM) 79 80, David Amm (ZIM) (AMA) 78 81
160 - Bennie van der Merwe (RSA) 78 82, Stephen Ferreira (POR) 76 84, Yubin Jung (RSA) 80 80, Jack Allard (ZIM) (AMA) 79 81
162 - Christian Mbanga (ZIM) (AMA) 85 77
165 - Julius Kamalizeni (ZIM) 82 83


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