Erasmus savours Zambia Open lead

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Chris Erasmus on Friday shot a second-round 70 at the Lusaka Golf Club to take the lead at the Indo Zambia Bank Zambia Open.

Chris Erasmus on Friday shot a second-round 70 at the Lusaka Golf Club to take the lead at the Indo Zambia Bank Zambia Open.

“I made a lot of putts, and Reggie was also making some putts, so we got into a fun little match-play between ourselves to see who could make putts, challenging each other,” Erasmus said on Friday after his round.

Erasmus shot a solid three-under-par 70 to reach eight-under for the tournament, which secured his spot at the top of the morning leaderboard.

Erasmus said he was happy with his form and was pleased at hitting the fairways and greens regularly.

“You just have to stick to your game plan,” he said.

“It's a short course but it's very tight, so if you start going on a few holes your confidence gets up and you feel good about every swing you make.”

The 27-year-old started on the 10th and wasted no time in going low, making consecutive birdies at the 12th and 13th holes.

“I hit a silly shot on the 12th – a snap-hook left and had 180 (meters) to the flag, so I punched it through the trees. I made it onto the green and made the putt for birdie and that kind of started the round,” Erasmus said.

Erasmus boosted his round with an eagle at the 14th.

Andrew Georgiou shot 67 and took hold of second on the leaderboard, continuing a superb run of good form, which includes three top-five finishes over the past three weeks.

Georgiou eagled the par-four first hole and continued to cruise from there.

“Yesterday I got accustomed to the course and then today I had 150 meters to the flag on the first hole and hit a nice little nine-iron bang into the hole,” Georgiou said.

“I birdied the next hole and then sank a 30-footer on the third for birdie, and then made another birdie after that Ä I was five-under through four holes!

I just tried to keep it cool after that and played solidly.”

Anthony Michael carded a one-under-par 72 to take hold of an early share of third.

Michael felt there was a vast difference between Thursday and Friday's rounds, adding that Friday's second round was a more difficult course to play than the day before.

“It's much tougher out there compared to yesterday,” he said.

“The pins today are very tricky and it just isn't playing the same way it was 1/8on Thursday 3/8, but that's the game.”

Erasmus was keen to head into the weekend in contention for a win.

“I'm hitting the ball solidly and I'm looking forward to playing this weekend. I might need to be a bit more aggressive, because these guys can play, so you have to fight to get up there.” – Sapa