Trevor Fisher Jnr equalled the Royal Harare Golf Club course record of nine-under-par 63 on Friday to move into a four-stroke lead at the halfway mark of the 2017 Zimbabwe Open.
He joined Nick Price, Italian Francesco Laporta and 2015 champion Dean Burmester as holders of the record, with a flawless display which included nine birdies. His playing partners Jean Hugo and Jaco Ahlers matched that total between them, and walked away with a pair of 69s between them. Hugo was the man four shots behind Fisher, and Ahlers was yet another four back.
‘I putted amazingly today, so that helped,’ said Fisher. ‘I didn’t hit my irons as well as I would have liked. I hit one or two good irons, but the putter was great. I was sinking 15, 20-footers… to shoot nine-under, you’ve got to sink some putts.
‘It’s great to join players like Nick Price and Dean Burmester as course record-holders here. I hope I can break it over the weekend.’ he added.
Fisher had a good week on the European Tour last week, with his share of eighth place in the Trophee Hasan II in Morocco getting him into this week’s Shenzen International in China. But he was unable to get a visa in time, so he kept the momentum going by playing in Zimbabwe.
And it’s clearly paid off. ‘I’ve been feeling a bit better than I felt last week in Morocco,’ he said. ‘I’m working on a few little things and trying to pick up one or two little movements or feelings out there, and so far it’s feeling alright.
‘But this game’s always a fight. You always are trying hard to keep it together and shoot a good score, but I just try to hit fairways and greens and give myself a chance for birdie, and I did that and I made nine of them, which is pretty good.
‘I drove the ball a bit better today than I did in the first round. I’m not hitting it quite as far as I want, but I drove it in the fairway quite a few times. The irons weren’t quite what I’d like them to be, so I hope I can hit them a little closer tomorrow so the putter can carry on working overtime,’ he added.
Hugo was full of praise for Fisher’s round. ‘I think he missed one green,’ he said, ‘and he holed a lot of good putts. I think he had seven one-putts on the front nine. He played very well, so 63 was probably the worst he could have shot.’
The man in third place at the end of the round was Oliver Bekker, who found some serious momentum after three bogeys in his opening nine saw him turn at level par. He made four birdies on his way in and will look to reproduce that kind of play over the weekend.
In fourth was Rhys Enoch of Wales, who has been threatening to win in South Africa for some time now. He was a bit taken aback by Fisher’s record. ‘I wasn’t expecting that, to be honest,’ he said. ‘I just went out and tried to get as close to double figures under par as I could. I’m a little back of that, but I’m glad I’m still up there.’
Fisher’s lead means his pursuers are going to have to chase and chase hard. It should make for an exciting weekend.
Picture of Fisher courtesy of Petri Oeschger/Sunshine Tour/Gallo Images
Second round scores
130 – Trevor Fisher Jnr 67 63
134 – Jean Hugo 65 69
135 – Oliver Bekker 67 68
136 – Rhys Enoch 68 68
138 – Jaco Ahlers 69 69, Breyten Meyer 71 67, Aubrey Beckley 68 70, Luke Jerling 67 71, Anthony Michael 68 70
139 – Andrew Curlewis 69 70, Vaughn Groenewald 68 71, Ryan Cairns 66 73, Jean-Paul Strydom 70 69, TC Charamba 70 69, Keenan Davidse 67 72, Neil Schietekat 70 69, Christiaan Basson 72 67
140 – Rourke van der Spuy 68 72, Cody Martin 68 72, Toby Tree 72 68, Tyrone Ferreira 68 72, Steven Ferreira 71 69, Ruan Huysamen 74 66
141 – JC Ritchie 74 67, Ulrich van den Berg 72 69, Riekus Nortje 75 66, Chris Swanepoel 74 67, Wallie Coetsee 72 69, Lindani Ndwandwe 69 72
142 – Jonathan Agren 69 73, James Kamte 71 71, Zander Lombard 72 70, Michael Hollick 70 72, Martin Rohwer 71 71, Christiaan Bezuidenhout 71 71, CJ du Plessis 67 75, Doug McGuigan 73 69, N.J. Arnoldi 69 73
143 – Dayne Moore 70 73, Andrew Odoh 75 68, MJ Viljoen 72 71, Teaghan Gauche 70 73, Toto Thimba 73 70, Bryce Easton 71 72, Peter Karmis 70 73, Herman Loubser 72 71, Rhys West 74 69, Stephen Ferreira 73 70
144 – Musiwalo Nethunzwi 69 75, Jason Froneman 68 76, Jared Harvey 69 75, Justin Harding 70 74, Francois Coetzee 67 77, Jason Viljoen 73 71, Jacquin Hess 71 73, Danie van Tonder 68 76, Merrick Bremner 71 73, Michael Palmer 72 72, Arthur Horne 72 72
145 – Coert Groenewald 70 75, Antonio Costa 72 73, Gary Thompson 74 71, Heinrich Bruiners 74 71, Callum Mowat 72 73, Trainos Muradzikwa 69 76, Kyle Pilgrim 73 72, Tyrone Ryan 70 75, Mark Williams 73 72, Alex Haindl 69 76