Erik van Rooyen picked up where he left off from Thursday’s opening round to move into the top 10 at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco.
Van Rooyen was second heading into the final round last year before finishing T7 – exactly where he starts this weekend in this year’s event after a joint-best round of the day 69.
Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura and England’s Tom Murray matched the South African’s tally in round two, where high winds made scoring difficult. American pair Sean Crocker and David Lipsky will share the lead at five-under par heading into the final 36 hole at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam.
They are two ahead of Van Rooyen, who birdied his final hole yesterday.
The leading Saffa in the field, according to world rankings, made four birdies in his first seven holes, but turned two-under after bogeys at three and five. A birdie at 10 got Van Rooyen off to a good start, but his progress slowed with four pars on the bounce. A three at the 15th advanced his cause before he surrendered his third drop of the day at 17.
He ended the day on a high again as he birdied the 18th to sign for a 69.
A double bogey 5 on the par-3 ninth saw Justin Walters slip to par for the event, where he was joined Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who signed for a 71 despite a fast start that included three birdies in a row.
Richard Sterne made a double bogey on either side as he dropped 18 places to share 31st after a 76.
Photo: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
