Santos Stays atop Africa Open


Portugal's Ricardo Santos followed up his opening 9-under 62 with a 66 to have the lowest score among the players who completed their second rounds in the rain-delayed Africa Open. The European Tour event began Thursday at London Golf Club in East London, South Africa.

After nine birdies Thursday, the 31-year-old Santos carded five more in the second round; he hasn't dropped a shot all tournament en route to reaching 14-under 128.

A torrential rain that came through the course halted play for 90 minutes. When play resumed, most of the field were able to finish their second rounds but a few didn't. Among the latter group was American John Hahn, who opened with a 65 and was 9-under through 17 holes before having to leave the course because of darkness. He's at 15-under and will finish 18th hole hole Saturday morning before the start of the third round.

Santos continues to be pleased with his play. "It was a good day - I played well, hit the ball nicely and kept it in play. There were lots of chances, which you can tell by the scoring. It was a matter of being patient and sticking with your round," he said.

"I was very pleased to score so well today, I really couldn't ask for much more. I got quite lucky with the weather delay, because I was in some thick rough when we were called off, but the break let me breathe some clean air and when I came back out I saved par. There is still a lot of golf to come, but I'm very happy with my position at the moment."

England's Oliver Fisher fired an 8-under 63 to reach 129. The weather delay didn't seem to affect him. "I got off to a good start and then got called in on the fourth fairway," said Fisher. "I made two birdies straight after that, so the delay helped me a little bit. I went dry for a while mid-round and then finished with four birdies, so it was a good day."

Fisher noticed a different track after the weather break. "We had quit a lot of rain in half an hour, so it definitely softened the course a tad," he noted. "The ball was picking up a bit more mud than it was earlier in the day, but you could still score. The course handled the weather really well - the bunkers were dry and it was god after the rain - so credit to the green staff."

England's David Horsey shot a 64 and is in fourth at 130.

For all the scores, visit http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2014/tournamentid=2014011/leaderboard/index.html.