Louis Oosthuizen, Thomas Aiken and Retief Goosen at loggerheads in Africa Open: Live Leaderboard
Overnight leader Thomas Aiken of South Africa is gaining momentum with every consecutive hole and is already challenging Louis Oosthuizen’s glorious early lead on the second day of the Africa Open.
The 2010 Open Champion Oosthuizen took on the offensive earlier during the day, landing an eye-popping 11-under, 62 and surged to the top of the leaderboard with an overwhelming lead of five strokes.
Aiken started off his second round later in the day alongside the grizzled Retief Goosen and both are working diligently to claim the halfway lead of the tournament.
Oosthuizen started off the day from the back nine of the scenic East London Golf Club, pulling in no fewer than four birdies before making the turn.
He landed another three birdies on the front before pulling in a blistering eagle at par-four, 6th. He closed the round with two more on the concluding holes to surge to the top with an aggregate of 15-under, 131.
Another South African, Tjaart Van Der Walt, played stunning golf in the morning, throwing himself in contention for the top slot.
He carded three consecutive birdies on the opening holes on back nine but dropped two shots before pulling in another birdie on the back nine.
He took the front nine by storm, pulling in a birdie and two consecutive eagles at second and third, and went over to conclude the round with two more, finishing for an impressive nine-under, 64. He is currently trailing Oosthuizen by two strokes.
Aiken, the overnight leader, has managed to stay impressive so far, pulling in three birdies on the opening four holes on the front nine.
“This is not the longest course, but it bites if you go skew. Anything off the line on this course is pretty much a reload off the tee, which makes it a thinking man’s course,” Aiken said after first round.
He continued, “There are a lot of risk-and-reward holes – a couple of driveable par fours and tricky par threes – and I think that a lot of new courses lack that challenge”.
Aiken is trailing the leader by three shots and is likely to reclaim the lead after the culmination of the second round. Goosen is a further shot behind and is also in top form to lift the title over the weekend.
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